Mars is far from 221B Baker Street, but one of the most famous detectives will soon be on the Red Planet to find out the secrets of the past.
We are talking about the Mars rover “Persistence”, on board of which two new vehicles were placed. The first instrument, placed at the end of the robotic arm, was called Sherlock, and the second device was the Watson high-resolution camera.
Sherlock will study the Martian rocks, and Watson will help him by taking a close-up of everything that happens. Together they will study the surface of rocks, revealing the presence of certain minerals and organic molecules that can indicate the presence of life on Mars in the past.
Sherlock was built at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and Watson was built at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. It is reported that the first device is so accurate that it can take half-inch wide core samples, store and seal them in metal tubes, and then place them on the surface of Mars so that a future mission can return them to Earth for a more detailed study.
Also, a team of detectives will study the Martian weather. As soon as mission leaders fix suitable conditions, Sherlock will scan a quarter-meter plot of land using a laser to determine the mineral composition and the presence of organic compounds.
Then, Watson will capture close-ups thanks to the wide-angle topographic sensor. He can also take pictures of the rover itself, just as the Curiosity rover takes its selfies.
The tandem of “Sherlock” and “Watson” can do even more: accurately identify how various mineral layers formed and overlap. They can also combine mineral maps with data from other tools – including PIXL on Perseverance Robotic Armto see if the rock may contain signs of fossilized microbial life, – concluded developers.
The only working rover on the Red Planet Curiosity does not have such technologies, so it’s worth the wait until the “Persistence” reaches Mars in February 2021.
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