Dust storm clouds Perseverance rover’s path on Mars

MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) -Over the past few weeks, as NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars has ascended to the edge of Jezero Crater, it has witnessed the increasing amount of dust in the atmosphere.

This is expected, as dust activity is typically highest at this time of the Martian year (early spring in the Northern Hemisphere). The increased dust has made views into the crater blurrier than usual and has provided atmospheric scientists with a great opportunity to study how dust storms form, develop, and spread across the Red Planet.

Perseverance has a suite of scientific instruments to study the Martian atmosphere. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) provides regular weather reports, the cadence of which has been increased during the storm to maximize science. It also has the Mastcam-Z imager, which points skyward to assess the optical density (“tau”) of the atmosphere.

There’s no sign of this regional dust storm becoming global, like the global dust storm of 2018, but mission scientists are evaluating new atmospheric data every day. Hopefully, the skies will clear even more as the rover continues to ascend in the coming weeks, and they’re hoping for stunning views of the crater floor and Jezero Delta, according to NASA.

This will offer the Perseverance team a unique opportunity to see from above the dozens of kilometers that the rover has traveled during the years it has been exploring Mars.

The Perseverance rover is currently ascending the western rim of Jezero Crater, the most challenging terrain the rover has ever encountered.

The journey began on August 19 and will continue for a month to reach the top of the crater. The ascent marks the start of the mission’s new scientific campaign, the fifth since the rover landed in the crater on February 18, 2021.