Perseverance Finds Itself All Alone In This Ominous Mars Photo
Mars is a truly mystifying planet — partly because of how different it is from Earth. This rover photo further proves its contrasting environment.
You Are Reading :Perseverance Finds Itself All Alone In This Ominous Mars Photo
Mars is a fascinating planet with numerous secrets to uncover — but as photos like this from NASA’s Perseverance remind — it’s also an empty, barren environment unlike anything on Earth. The Solar System is an amazing place. It’s the small pocket in the universe where Earth exists, serving as the only known planet with active life. It’s also home to a handful of other planets, such as Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune, and more.
Outside of Earth, the Solar System’s other most iconic planet is Mars. Mars has proven to be a constant source of fascination to scientists and astronomers alike. It has certain Earth-like qualities, is relatively close to our home planet, and may have once fostered life of its own. This deep interest in Mars has resulted in tremendous exploration over the years — part of which includes sending advanced rovers to the planet.
One of these rovers is Perseverance. Perseverance first arrived on the Red Planet in February 2021 to search for any signs of ancient Martian life. Along with collecting rock samples and charting new areas of the alien world, Perseverance has also captured thousands of pictures — with one of the most recent seen above. Perseverance took this particular photo on December 12 with its Left Navigation Camera at the local mean solar time of 17:18:30. Out of all the images Perseverance has shared over the past few months, this is certainly one of the most ominous. On display are Mars’ eerie yellow/green sky, a completely empty surface, and a faint outline of dunes way off in the distance.
Not The First Time Perseverance Has Seen Mars’ Empty Side
If this photo looks familiar, that’s because Perseverance came across a similar scene in July. The second picture here reveals a nearly identical setting — showcasing the vast Martian sky and barren surface. Pictures like this are proof of just how different Mars really is from Earth. There aren’t any lakes, rivers, trees, grassy hills, or anything of that nature. Instead, much of Mars looks just like this. It’s dusty, rocky, and extremely empty.
With all the talk there is about humans eventually colonizing Mars, images like this remind how much work needs to be done to make that happen. Scientists need to figure out how to provide humans with oxygen, water, food, and more. Mars may not be a surface-less gas giant like Jupiter or burning hot like Venus, but that doesn’t mean it’s a turn-key planet for human life, either.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/mars-photo-perseverance-rover-alone-ominous/