But first, a bit of troubling future Martian news, out of ESA, driven by the lawless invasion by Russia of the Ukraine. The Rosalind Franklin Mars lander and rover are almost certainly NOT going to leave Earth in 2022. The mission, a joint effort of Russia and its European partners, has been shelved -- until Putin decides that he will obey international law, as to Ukraine.
So -- the earliest that our JPL rovers will have new across-the-pond company -- on Barsoom. . . will be likely mid-2023. Now, let's cover the latest from Jezero Delta:
At the end of January 2022, the team confirmed it had shaken loose all the debris, and other pebbles, in the sampling tube and coring mechanism, so they then set off for new vistas.
Well, except that these are old vistas -- as the path it followed out, it now follows. . . back in. Soon it will collect new rock core samples from inside the ancient crater's floor outcroppings. Here's that blog entry, overnight:
. . .Perseverance capped its first year on Mars by speeding back around Séítah toward what is expected to be the final sampling location in its crater floor campaign. The drive on Mars was split across three different sols executing instructions planned in a single day on Earth, making this Perseverance’s first multiple-sol drive. . . .
[In addition, we] have arrived at Ch’ał for our final crater floor sampling and are looking forward to many more multiple-sol drives on our journey to the Jezero delta!
Onward, smiling at the progress here. Ever. . . onward.
नमस्ते
1 comment:
Twice, at 4:54 am… in a light rain there… smiling. Baby girl in Venice, Italy now….
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