Illustration: Perseverance's Microphones

This illustration of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover indicates the placement of the spacecraft's two microphones. The microphone on the mast is part of the SuperCam science instrument. The microphone on the side of the rover was intended to capture the sounds of entry, descent, and landing for public engagement. 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). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24931

Date

2021-10-18

Photographer / author

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Collection

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Archive

NASA Image and Video Library

Type

illustration (NASA artwork)

More from this collection: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory photos from the 2020s

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