NASA has released an image of clouds on Mars taken by the Perseverance rover. The image was taken on March 18
Animated image of clouds in the predawn sky on Mars. Animation: NASA/JPL-Caltech
According to NASA, clouds in the Martian atmospheremeet infrequently. As a rule, they form at the equator during the coldest time of the year. Most of the clouds are up to 60 km above the surface of the planet and are composed of water ice. But some may represent frozen carbon dioxide.
Sky analysis is a side mission of the rovermain task: search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover explores the geology and climate of the planet in the past. To do this, he explores the ancient impact crater Jezero, on the territory of which once upon a time there was a lake and water flowed.
Perseverance doesn't just analyze rockson site, but also collects rock samples for a future NASA and ESA mission to return samples taken on Mars to Earth. According to the future mission plan, a robotic arm will land on Mars to pick up test tubes with samples and send them into orbit. There, the samples will be picked up by the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), which will return to Earth and release the samples into the atmosphere.
Previously, Hi-Tech talked about the Mars Sample Return mission and showed how a prototype robotic arm works.
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On the cover: clouds on Mars. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech