This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series about exploring the red planet.
What a nice time to be a fan of Mars. We have a pet, a mysterious piece of foil and a bonanza of stunning scenery, where NASA’s Rover Perseverance explores an intriguing region of the river delta in Jezero Crater. The last views are stunning. Meet the “bacon strip”.
The bacon ribbon got its original nickname from how the ground looks in images from a distance, like a piece of meat for breakfast. There is now a more official nickname: Hogwallow Flats, a slope to a scenic location in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
The Perseverance team tweeted several views of the Hogwallow Flats on Thursday, saying “… the nearby rocks are a sight. My team is happy like pigs in mud (stone)!”
From earlier, distant views, my team called this area the “bacon bar.” (My above-ground map shows why.) Now that I’m at the top, we call it the Hogwallow Flats – and the nearby rocks are a sight to behold. My team is happy like pigs in mud (stone)!
Map: pic.twitter.com/fsz5hFjmLF
– NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 16, 2022
The Perseverance team shared some close-ups of the surrounding landscape, tweeting: “Very potential research goals. A paradise for rock maniacs like me.
I mean, look at some of these close-ups. Tons of potential research goals. A paradise for rock maniacs like me. pic.twitter.com/0uEHHVvZds
– NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 16, 2022
The Delta is Percy’s main place to pursue one of his main goals: to study whether Mars can host microbial life. “We will look for signs of ancient life in the rocks at the base of the delta, rocks that we believe were once mud at the bottom of Lake Jezero,” said Perseverance scientist Ken Farley in a mission update in April.
The rover does more than just search. It also collects rock samples, which we hope will be retrieved from a future mission and returned to Earth for research. The rocks collected by the delta will be of particular interest, given the history of the water in this place.
Come to the rocks. Stay in search of ancient life.
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