A key instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been revived after six months of inactivity, renewing efforts to search for evidence of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.
The development marks a major milestone in the rover’s mission to explore Jezero Crater, an area believed to once have contained a lake and potentially habitable conditions.
The SHERLOC instrument and its importance
The SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, mounted on Perseverance’s robotic arm, was inoperative due to a stuck lens cover. This protective cover, crucial to maintaining the instrument’s functionality, had been rendered immobile by Martian dust. SHERLOC is vital to the mission because it uses advanced spectroscopy to identify organic compounds and chemicals indicative of past life.
from SHERLOC The capabilities are designed to detect signs of past microbial life by examining Martian rocks and soil for specific organic compounds. It uses Raman spectroscopy, which involves shining an ultraviolet (UV) laser on a target and analyzing the scattered light to identify molecular vibrations.
This helps reveal the chemical composition of the target material. In addition, fluorescence spectroscopy is used to detect organic compounds. When UV light shines on these organic substances, their molecules are excited, causing them to emit light at different wavelengths, which SHERLOC then collects and analyses.
Attempts to restore functionality
Engineers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) used multiple strategies to loosen the stuck lens hood. These include heating the engine, reorienting the robot arm and even using the rover’s percussive drill. In March, the team managed to open the hood for SHERLOC’s Autofocus and Context Imager (ACI) camera, freeing up the field of view. The process required ingenuity and perseverance, which showcased the technical expertise and problem-solving skills of the JPL team.
The team confirmed this in mid-June SHERLOC was fully operational. Kyle Uckert, SHERLOC deputy principal investigator at JPL, said: “The rover’s robotic arm is amazing. It can be controlled in small quarter-millimeter increments to help us evaluate SHERLOC’s new focus position, and it can place SHERLOC on a target with high accuracy.” This precision is crucial to the instrument’s ability to perform detailed analyzes of rocks and soil on Mars.
Functionality and performance
SHERLOCs Its functionality has now been fully restored, allowing it to continue its mission of detecting potential biosignatures on Mars. The instrument’s advanced capabilities are critical to identifying the presence of organic compounds that could indicate past life. Since its activation, SHERLOC has already made a significant contribution by finding evidence that the building blocks of life could have existed on Mars for a very long time. This evidence is crucial for understanding the planet’s potential to support life in its distant past.
The instrument uses Raman spectroscopy, which appears an ultraviolet (UV) laser at a target and analyzes the scattered light to identify molecular vibrations and chemical composition. Additionally, it uses fluorescence spectroscopy to detect organic compounds, which emit light at different wavelengths when excited UV light. These capabilities are essential for identifying potential biosignatures.
Current status and future prospects
Perseverance, that in Jezero crater in February 2021, is in the later stages of its fourth science campaign. The rover is currently exploring an area along the inner rim of Jezero, searching for evidence of carbonate and olivine deposits. These findings could provide further insight into the planet’s past habitability. The successful revival of SHERLOC allows Perseverance to continue its mission to explore Mars’ ancient environments and search for signs of past life, advancing our understanding of the red planet.
The mission aims to collect nuclear samples from Martian rock and soilwhich can be returned to Earth by future missions for detailed analysis. These samples are expected to provide a wealth of information about the geological history of Mars and its potential to support life. The continued operation of SHERLOC is crucial for selecting the most promising samples for return to Earth.
The successful revival of SHERLOC will allow Perseverance to continue its mission to explore ancient Martian environments and search for signs of past life, significantly advancing our understanding of the Red Planet. As the rover continues its mission, data will be collected by SHERLOC and other instruments will be invaluable for future explorations of Mars and pave the way for possible human missions to the Red Planet.
