NASA released a conceptual drawing of the Trail rover operating on Mars. (NASA via Getty Images)
The Perseverance rover, which is on a mission to Mars, has sent back its first weather report. The report shows that the Jezero Crater on Mars (Jezero Crater), the temperature is as low as -83 degrees Celsius, chilling.
According to foreign media reports, about a day after landing on Mars, the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) system equipped on the Trail was activated for the first time and operated for about 30 minutes. Later that day, engineers on Earth received the first report of Martian weather data from Trailblazer.
The report showed that the temperature in Jethro Crater, where Trailhead is located, ranged from -83 to -22 degrees Celsius, with winds of 22 miles per hour and a pressure of 718 Pascals.
Trailblazer’s MEDA system, which weighs about 5.5 kg, has a set of environmental sensors capable of recording atmospheric dust levels and atmospheric data in six areas, including wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, ground temperature, and radiation values (both radiation from the sun and radiation from space).
The system is activated automatically every hour to measure and record weather data, and MEDA data show that just within 30 minutes of the system’s first operation, the ground temperature in the Jezero Crater area had dropped from minus 20 to minus 25.6 degrees Celsius.
Trailblazer is the third weather station on Mars, following InSight and Curiosity. Both Trail and Curiosity are mobile rovers, with Trail located in Jezero Crater, Curiosity currently in Gale Crater, and Insight, a fixed lander, anchored in Elysium Planitia.
Insight’s MEDA system, compared to Curiosity’s REMS system, has made some upgrades and improvements to measure air temperature at three altitudes of 0.84 m, 1.45 m and 30 m, in addition to the ground temperature.
From the weather data received for the first time, the air in the Jezero Crater area, which is somewhat cleaner than the Gale Crater air, is about 3,700 km apart.
The weather information collected by MEDA will help Ingenuity, the first miniature helicopter on Mars, plan its missions by selecting the best weather conditions for its trips.
“The Ingenuity helicopter was originally attached to the belly of Trailblazer and landed on Mars together on Feb. 18. The landing on the surface of Mars.
NASA announced on April 6 that the Innovation mini-helicopter had successfully landed on Mars and spent its first night at -90 degrees Celsius. Next, “Innovation” will challenge the mission on Mars, it will be the first helicopter to fly on a planet other than Earth.
At present, through ground-based telescopes, Mars orbital probes and other channels, scientists have a good understanding of the weather conditions on Mars. The next step scientists hope to analyze the activity pattern of dust storms on Mars during the year.
When each dust storm on Mars starts to form and how it moves, and how it develops from small dust storms to large dust storms that sweep across the globe, is very important for future Mars exploration missions. A year on Mars is equivalent to two years on Earth.
NASA NASA is also planning a large mission to collect Mars samples to send back to Earth, and in addition to solar radiation density, information on cloud formation, local wind conditions, etc. is also important. All of this information is an important basis for future human exploration on Mars.
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