Perseverance left rocky slopes for sandy megaripples at “Kerrlaguna,” where it’s studying how wind continues to shape Mars today. These inactive ripples may reveal both environmental secrets and resources useful for future astronauts.
Shifting Sands on the Red Planet
On Mars, the story of the past is preserved in solid rock, but the planet’s present is being shaped in shifting sand. Just last week, NASA’s Perseverance rover studied a set of inactive megaripples to better understand how winds continue to sculpt the Martian surface today.
After finishing its examination of the boundary between clay and olivine-rich rocks at a site named “Westport,” Perseverance began moving south again. The rover had previously tried to climb uphill toward a rock outcrop called “Midtoya,” but the steep incline combined with loose, rubble-filled ground made progress nearly impossible. Following several attempts, the team redirected the rover to smoother terrain. Even so, the effort proved worthwhile, since Perseverance collected data on unusual spherule-rich rocks that likely rolled down from “Midtoya.” Among them was “Horneflya,” a witch hat or helmet-shaped rock that has drawn a surge of attention online.
Discovering the Megaripples of Kerrlaguna
More recently, Perseverance explored a site called “Kerrlaguna,” where the steep slopes give way to a field of megaripples: large windblown sand formations up to 1 meter (about 3 feet) tall. The science team chose to perform a mini-campaign to make a detailed study of these features. Why such interest? While often the rover’s attention is focused on studying processes in Mars’ distant past that are recorded in ancient rocks, we still have much to learn about the modern Martian environment.
Almost a decade ago, Perseverance’s forerunner Curiosity studied an active sand dune at “Namib Dune” on the floor of Gale crater, where it took a memorable selfie. (See image below.) However, the smaller megaripples — and especially dusty, apparently no longer active ones like at “Kerrlaguna” — are also common across the surface of Mars. These older immobile features could teach us new insights about the role that wind and water play on the modern Martian surface.
Probing Mars’ Surface with Rover Instruments
After arriving near several of these inactive megaripples, Perseverance performed a series of measurements using its SuperCam, Mastcam-Z, and MEDA science instruments in order to characterize the surrounding environment, the size and chemistry of the sand grains, and any salty crusts that may have developed over time.
Besides furthering our understanding of the Martian environment, documenting these potential resources could help us prepare for the day when astronauts explore the Red Planet and need resources held within Martian soils to help them survive. It is hoped that this investigation at “Kerrlaguna” can provide a practice run for a more comprehensive campaign located at a more extensive field of larger bedforms at “Lac de Charmes,” further along the rover traverse.
Written by Athanasios Klidaras, Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University
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