Pictures of the ingenuity of Stah, the region of Mars that perseverance will never be able to visit

If the title picture allows us to see it from afar, it will be very difficult to get there for a vehicle like determination. We’re talking about Séítah, an area in Jezero crater that was just a few days ago Visited and photographed thanks to an aerial survey by Ingenuity, the Martian helicopter that after this experience completed nine flights to Mars.

In fact, we have already collected some data on Séítah thanks to the MRO (Mars Reconaissance Orbiter), which thanks to its HiRISE camera is able to capture surface details up to one meter in diameter, but the new images were taken by cleverness they let NASA To see the area in depth.

The area is especially sandy and the risk of persevering to block it irreversibly will be very high, so its southern path will bypass the most dangerous area. The images arrived on July 8 and allow you to understand different details, here is the gallery consisting of 4 shots and sung with the image of the road that was taken.

The first picture is gone A rocky area that NASA named Raised Ridges, where the system of fractions was clearly visible previously It could have carried the flow of water underground (Jesero crater may have once hosted a lake.) Scientists are now curious to know whether the dissolution of minerals by water 4 billion years ago may have contributed to the growth of microbial colonies, possibly leaving signs of possible soil pits. The goal is to take samples with persistence for future analysis on Earth.

The second image relates to the first part of the trip and highlights the rover’s passage on the surface very well, in fact we can see the footprints of its wheels. Finally, the next two images show the details of the more sandy area to the south, which can be clearly identified in the last image taken by MRO that traced the path on which it was taken.

Olivia Topet, one of the technicians at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who handles the rover, explained that this area poses a significant risk to the perseverance movement capabilities. The risk of crashes is very high, and if the Autonav autonomous system is able to very accurately avoid obstacles and other dangers, then at the same time it has a huge problem: it is not able to detect sand and distinguish it from the most difficult terrain, so safety zones must be defined in advance by NASA technicians.

Once again, creativity has proven to be a valuable tool, because without it scientists would never be able to collect such detailed images of an inaccessible area like this one. But we are already working on his successor, the official name has yet to be decided but The first documents describe the possible characteristics of the Mars science planeTheir mission is to reach areas of Mars that are impossible to explore with a land vehicle.