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NASA’s Patience rover have learned new information about a large crater on Mars, teaching researchers and astronomers how the structure was formed and when there was water on the planet.
Be patient, here reach Mars in February 2021, Jezero Crater is being explored as part of its mission to find signs of ancient life and collect them. rock samples and regolith to bring back to Earth.
It is believed that the cave was flooded with water and became the home of a river. according to NASAand it is possible microbial life it was there at some point in its 3.5 billion year history.
The rover analysis of the pit scientists have been allowed to develop a timeline of the structure, said NASA, and confirmed that there are “three major periods” after the water entered the crater. A short videopublished by NASA, it shows an artist letting the water break into the hole and start the process.
During the first period, the soil and sand came into the crater known for preserving species in similar environments on Earth. Next, the growth of the crater lake is about 22 miles in diameter and up to 100 feet deep, resulting in the formation of mudflats. The third and final phase occurred when “high-energy currents” transported rounded rocks as they traveled through the water.
The evidence of each of these steps was observed by the Faithful, said NASA. The first group was observed in a group called d Hogwallow Flatswhere the rover collected sedimentary rocks and in 2022 returned images that NASA said were the most detailed views ever returned of Mars.
Information about the crater, its development and the water in the area is helping the Permanent in its search for signs of ancient microbial life. In addition to mapping Mars, the rover is studying the planet’s past and working to “pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet,” NASA said. .