NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance landed successfully near the western rim of Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. Since then, the mission has focused on searching for evidence of possible past life on Mars, as well as conducting studies current environments.
During that time, the rover also collected, for the first time in history, a set of samples for possible transfer to Earth in the next decade.
The Spanish MEDA instrument, one of seven carried aboard the Perseverance rover, performs a continuous characterization of the physical processes of the Martian lower atmosphere
In addition, Perseverance also faces the challenge of better understanding Martian atmospheric dynamics in support of future exploration of that planet, both manned and unmanned. For that, it has the Spanish instrument MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer), one of the seven that it takes on board, and with it it carries out a continuous characterization of the most relevant physical processes in the lowest layer of the Martian atmosphere.
The incoming data reveals a highly variable climate on Jezero, both spatially and temporally, which controls changes to the actual Martian surface in the crater.
The results obtained in the first months of operation are now published in nature geoscience. Other studies of different atmospheric phenomena are being presented in various scientific journals.
Martian atmospheric environment in Jezero Crater
About to celebrate its first Martian anniversary (about 687 Earth days), MEDA’s sensors have provided almost 8,000 hours of measurements and more than 1,700 images of the Martian sky, valuable information that is used to study temperature cycles, heat flows , dust cycles , and how dust particles interact with radiation, which will affect the temperature and climate of the Red Planet.
The data that MEDA has taken on the intensity of solar radiation are also important, as well as the study of cloud formations and local winds, which could influence the landing of the future Mars Sample Return mission (which will bring samples of Mars the land).
Data recorded on the intensity of solar radiation, as well as cloud formation and local winds, could influence the landing of the future mission to bring back samples.
“Undoubtedly, this data will help engineers design future missions, prepare astronauts and design habitats that will allow them to face the harsh conditions on Mars,” says José Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi, principal investigator of the MEDA instrument at the Center for Astrobiology (CAB , INTA-CSIC).
NASA’s Perseverance rover took this ‘selfie’ on a rock called Rochette on September 10, 2021. Several MEDA sensors can be seen in the middle of the mast: wind, air temperature, humidity and infrared radiation. / NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
And it is that “for the first time MEDA measures the environmental parameters in a place where it will presumably land in the future”, as Manuel de la Torre, co-principal investigator of the instrument at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory points out, “hence the importance of these measures for the future”, he adds.
halos on mars
“One of the most surprising discoveries in this year of measurements was to observe the formation of halos on Mars!”, emphasizes Daniel Toledo, researcher from the MEDA instrument team at INTA. Halos, a white or colored ring-shaped optical phenomenon around the Sun and typically produced by certain clouds, have only been observed in Earth’s atmosphere, “and this discovery provides us with important information about the properties of clouds on Mars.”
Another study, led by Daniel Viúdez-Moreiras, a CAB researcher, and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets describes the wind patterns measured in the crater, analyzing the mechanisms that define the atmospheric circulation in the area, and showing mainly repetitive patterns .
“On Mars, atmospheric dust in the atmosphere has a significant influence on weather and climate. Detailed knowledge of surface wind patterns is needed to understand the planet’s weather and climate, as well as the process by which dust storms form. originate and develop”, says the researcher.
MEDA also allows validating observations made by satellites and the measurements are similar
MEDA also allows validating observations made by satellites. As MEDA’s field of view is 2,000 times smaller than satellite observations, the instantaneous values measured by the instrument are different from those obtained in orbit. However, along the rover’s path, as the covered surface approaches the satellites’ field of view, the measurements are surprisingly similar.
“Our instrument is fulfilling its objective of validating observations made by satellites!” says Germán Martínez, a researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Institute and a member of the instrument’s team.
Thus, as stated by Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, a researcher at the University of the Basque Country: “MEDA is providing high-precision meteorological measurements that allow for the first time to characterize the atmosphere of Mars from local to global scales, collecting information on what happens to thousands from kilometers away. All of this will result in greater knowledge and improvement of predictive models of the Martian climate”.
Success of Spanish science and technology
“MEDA is undoubtedly a success story for Spanish aerospace science and technology, both for public institutions and for our industry, and reinforces our great capacity in the international aerospace context”, says Victor Parro, director of the Center for Astrobiology.
The MEDA MEDA instrument was built by an international team led by CAB and INTA, which also includes the following Spanish institutions: the University of Seville/Institute of Microelectronics of Seville, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Micro and Nanotechnology Group), the University of the Basque Country, the University of Alcalá de Henares and the Rocasolano Institute of Physical Chemistry, as well as the essential contribution of the industry with Airbus CRISA, AVS-Added Value Solutions and ALTER Technology.
The following international institutions are also part of the consortium: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), Space Science Institute (SSI), Aeolis Research, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Institute Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Padua.
MEDA is a contribution from Spain to NASA’s Mars 2020 mission and was funded by the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN). Contributions from the United States were funded by the Game Changing Development program within NASA’s Space Mission Technology Directorate.
Reference:
JA Rodríguez-Manfredi et al. “The varied meteorology of Jezero Crater in the first 250 sols of Perseverance”. Nature Geoscience, 2023.