What is Perseverance Rover?

Why in the News?

• The rover has identified a rock named "Cheyava Falls" that exhibits intriguing characteristics, suggesting it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago.
• Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock, was found on the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley that once channeled water into Jezero Crater, where Perseverance is working. 
• It is rich in chemical signatures and structures that may have been formed by life when the area contained running water.
• The rover's SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument detected organic compounds in Cheyava Falls.
• These carbon-based molecules are considered the building blocks of life, although they can also be formed by non-biological processes.

About Perseverance Rover:

• Perseverance, nicknamed "Percy", is a semi-autonomous rover the size of a small car designed to explore the surface of Mars.
• It is part of NASA’s ongoing Mars 2020 Mission.
• Launch: It was launched on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• Landing: Successfully landed on the surface of Mars's Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021.
• Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.
  • The rover will collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in tubes, and leave them on the planet's surface to be returned to Earth at a future date.
• Features:
  • It is about 3 metres long, 2.7 metres wide, and 2.2 metres tall.
  • It is about the size of a car but weighs only about 1,025 kilograms with all instruments on board.
  • Power source: Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG).  It converts heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium into electricity.
  • It has a rectangular body, six wheels, a robotic arm, a drill for sampling rocks, cameras and scientific instruments.