Astrobiology-Themed Imagery On Perseverance Mars Rover’s Mastcam-Z Calibration Target
The primary calibration target for Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, features color swatches used by scientists to fine-tune the cameras’ settings.
The object in the center, known as a shadow post, helps scientists check the color of the sky to calibrate for lighting conditions.
Symbols and mottos relevant to the mission are included around the target’s perimeter: (clockwise from top):
- a fern;
- an Apatosaurus;
- a man and woman raising their hands in greeting (a nod to plaques carried aboard Pioneer 10 and 11, as well as the Golden Record aboard Voyagers 1 and 2);
- a rocket traveling from Earth (blue dot) to Mars (red dot);
- a motto reading “Two Worlds, One Beginning,” in reference to the idea of Earth and the Red Planet growing out of the same proto-stellar dust;
- a model of the inner solar system; a DNA helix; and cyanobacteria, one of the earliest forms of life on Earth.
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
Date Created:2020-12-08 Secondary Creator Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/University of Copenhagen Larger image
Astrobiology
