To those who follow, we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery.” Surrounding the message is the phrase “Joy of Discovery” in a variety of languages. Just out of view, on the outer edge of the calibration target, there’s a bonus inscription: “Are we alone? We came here to look for signs of life, and to collect samples of Mars for study on Earth. It’s all in tribute to Perseverance’s astrobiology mission, searching for signs of ancient microbial life on the planet’s surface. There’s also a man and woman similar to those on the Pioneer plaques and the Golden Record. Spirit and Opportunity carried similar sundials, which bore the motto “Two Worlds, One Sun,” while Curiosity’s sundial reads, “To Mars to Explore.” Mastcam-Z’s sundial motto is “Two Worlds, One Beginning,” referring to the idea of Earth and the Red Planet growing out of the same proto-stellar dust.īesides the motto and swatches, the sundial displays small line drawings of early life forms on Earth, including cyanobacteria, a fern and a dinosaur. These help scientists ensure the cameras’ color settings are correct, given that the position of the Sun and the dustiness of the sky can affect the lighting in images. The instrument’s primary calibration target, which doubles as a sundial for educational purposes, includes color and grayscale swatches. Serving as Perseverance’s main “eyes,” Mastcam-Z is the latest in a line of instruments that Bell has helped develop. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/U of Copenhagen Symbols and mottos relevant to the mission are included around the target’s perimeter. Scientists use the color swatches on the primary calibration target for Mastcam-Z – a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover – to fine-tune the cameras’ settings. Much of the festooning aboard the rover serves a dual purpose. Because cameras frequently take images of these targets, they’re the ideal places to add a motto or decorative symbols for viewing by the public.Īs with Curiosity, Perseverance was built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the mission. In fact, the object serves a similar purpose on Curiosity: Scientists use it as a calibration target – a kind of default they can use to check the settings of the Mars Hand Lens Imager camera. The 1909 penny aboard the Curiosity rover nods not just to the hundredth anniversary of the Lincoln penny, but also to how geologists often include a penny for scale when analyzing images of rock features. Bell is the principal investigator of Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras that will capture gorgeous color panoramas of the Martian surface. “These kinds of embellishments add artistic elements on missions that are otherwise solely dominated by science and technology, as well as lasting tributes to colleagues who have helped pave the way for humanity’s exploration of space,” said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, who has helped festoon almost all of NASA’s Mars rovers, including Perseverance. Metal from the wreckage of the Twin Towers on 9/11 was installed on the rovers Opportunity and Spirit, while Spirit also carried a memorial to the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. The Golden Record aboard Voyager 1 and 2 serves a similar purpose. A plaque aboard Pioneer 10 and 11 displays a man and a woman for distant spacefarers who might find the spacecraft. The “extras” are part of a tradition that harks back to the early space age and is now called “festooning” in NASA lingo. It’s carrying symbols, mottos, and objects that range from practical to playful – everything from meteorite fragments to chips carrying the names of 10.9 million people. More than halfway to the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover isn’t just shuttling sophisticated science instruments and tubes to be filled with Earth-bound rock samples. The symbols, mottos, and small objects added to the agency’s newest Mars rover serve a variety of purposes, from functional to decorative. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is “festooned” with a variety of objects that serve both decorative and functional purposes, from commemorative placards to a slice of Martian meteorite that earlier rode aboard the space station to a sundial.
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