The Perseverance team plans to reach an ancient Martian river delta in the coming months.
This work — done early in the mission from afar, using Perseverance's Mastcam-Z imaging suite and a camera on its rock-zapping— was fruitful, confirming the existence of the long-ago lake and river delta. But up-close looks will be far more productive, and they should be coming soon.
Such backtracking was the plan all along; it's the safest way to get to the delta, the target location for the mission's second science campaign. Going there directly from South Séítah would be a risky proposition, forcing Perseverance to cross sand dunes and other rough terrain. "The rover planners — the brilliant engineers who drive the rover — have got full license right now to employ autonav on the rover and drive, drive, drive," Hand said.
The team hasn't decided which part of the delta to target, Hand said; Perseverance may roll to Kodiak, or it may head for a piece of the larger, contiguous structure.
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