exception that the Earth ’ s axis of rotation remains stable due to the gravitational influence of the Moon , while the Martian axis presents a chaotic movement , reaching tilt values of more than 60o . For this reason , modeling the planet ’ s past climate is a very complex process . However , evidence from different space missions indicates that about 3.5 billion years ago , the atmosphere was denser and the planet was warmer . Under these conditions , there was surely liquid water on the surface , an indispensable condition for the origin of life , as we know it . If we think that life on our planet began approximately 3.8 billion years ago , over a considerable window of time both planets could have harbored life forms , such as microorganisms . Perhaps life arose independently on both planets or perhaps there was an exchange of biological structures between them . On Earth , with more stable climatic conditions , life prospered giving rise to increasingly complex structures , but what could have happened on Mars ? Perhaps organisms formed and due to the fact that the environment radically changed they became extinct . Maybe they adapted and are still there . Obtaining data to answer those questions is the challenge of the Perseverance mission . As a precedent we have the Viking program , which in 1971 sent two probes to Mars that were the first American missions to land on the planet . These probes had the ability to take soil samples and analyze them for signs of biological activity . The results were not conclusive and it was even argued that the experiments that tested positive could be related to contamination of the probes on Earth . In August 2012 , the Curiosity mission landed in the Gale crater , on the surface of Mars . From previous images , the scientific community agreed on the past existence of liquid water on the surface and , therefore , the existence of a denser atmosphere
COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-Caltech
In this image taken on May 20 , 2020 at the Kennedy Space Center , engineers and technicians insert 39 sample tubes into the belly of the rover . Each tube is sheathed in a gold-colored cylindrical enclosure to protect it from contamination . Perseverance rover will carry 43 sample tubes to the Red Planet ’ s Jezero Crater .
than the current one . The rocky sediment analysis of the crater where the Rover landed had two relevant results : 1 - the existence of a lake of liquid water 3.5 billion years ago 2 - the existence of organic molecules in that ancient lake . The concentration of carbon , hydrogen , nitrogen , oxygen , phosphorus and sulfur , key elements for life , was measured . If to this we add the record of high seasonal values of methane ( indirect indicator of biological activity ) the past or current existence of simple living organisms , such as bacteria , is a feasible hypothesis . On February 18 of this year , the Rover Perseverance landed on Mars with four goals : 1 ) identify habitable environments for life in the planet ’ s past 2 ) look for signs of microbial life in those environments 3 ) take samples of surface and Martian rocks 4 ) try to produce oxygen on Mars
The site chosen for the landing was the Jezero crater , which is located in a dry river delta type structure . The technological challenge that represents the descent of a rover without accidents on Mars , increases when the size and mass are large . Perseverance has a small car size and weighs 1050 kg . Just like Curiosity , the descent implies that 13 km from the surface a parachute opens up , which is connected to the descent vehicle that supports the rover through special stretches . One of the novelties of this mission is the Terrain-Relative Navigation ( TRN ) navigation system , which allows you to contrast the images that Perseverance chambers take during the descent and to contrast them with images from other missions . This technology makes it possible to avoid errors in relation to the landing site and , if irregular reliefs are identified , avoid them . Another novelty is the small Ingenuity helicopter , the first device to fly in the atmosphere of another planet . It can travel up to 300 meters
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