Engineers at air-and-space have received the first weathera> report from <a href="https: Jezero Crater, where the agency’s Perseverance rover landed in February.
The rover’s Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) system has sent back data onair-and-space” target=”_blank”> atmospheric conditions<
As measurements were received, the rover’s team determined that the surface temperature on the red air-and-space was just below minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit when MEDA’s system began recording on Feb. 19, a day after landing.
That temperature plummeted to minus 14 degrees Fahrenheit within a half-hour, according to a Tuesday release.
In addition, the MEDA radiation and dust sensor showed that the crater was experiencing a clearer atmosphere than the Martian Gale Crater around 2,300 miles away.
They compared the reading using reports from the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) aboard NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed inside the Gale Crater in November 2011.
The MEDA pressure sensors also noted that the pressure on Mar was within a predictable range of 718 Pascals.
While NASA has a relative understanding of the Mars planet-earth, also receiving data from the InSight lander’s Temperature and Win senors (TWINS), predicting dust storms and dust lifting will help aid future exploration.
Over the course of the next year, MEDA will provide NASA will readings of solar radiation intensity, cloud formations and winds, dust cycles, and heat fluxes and temperature cycles.
Video
MEDA, which contains environment” target=”_blank”>environmental sensors<. We hope that its data will help make our designs stronger and our missions safer,” he added.
In the coming days, NASA will use MEDA to determine the best atmospheric flight conditions for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
Ingenuity is scheduled to lift off no sooner than April 11 after surviving the first of its frigid Mars nights.
