Jezero is a crater on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

in the Syrtis Major quadrangle, about in diameter. Thought to have once been flooded with water, the crater contains a fan-

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

deposit rich in

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

s. The lake in the crater was present when valley networks were forming on Mars. Besides having a delta, the crater shows point bars and inverted channels. From a study of the delta and channels, it was concluded that the lake inside the crater probably formed during a period in which there was continual

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...

. In 2007, following the discovery of its ancient lake, the crater was named after Jezero,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, one of several eponymous towns in the country. In some

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

, the word , sh-Latn-Cyrl, jezero, језеро, separator=" / ",

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

, sl, jezero and its closest written variations ( pl, jezioro, dsb, jezer, sk, jazero,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and uk, озеро), as well as in

Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lang ...

( lt, ežeras, lv, ezers) means 'lake'. In November 2018, it was announced that Jezero had been chosen as the landing site for the rover ''

Perseverance Perseverance may refer to: Behaviour * Psychological resilience * Perseverance of the saints, a Protestant Christian teaching * Assurance (theology) Geography * Perseverance, Queensland, a locality in Australia * Perseverance Island, Seychelles ...

'' as part of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...

mission. In November 2020, evidence of boulder falls was found on the slopes of the delta deposits that the rover is planned to explore, on the wall of Jezero itself as well as on the wall of Dacono, a small crater in diameter on the floor of Jezero. ''Perseverance'' successfully landed in the crater on 18 February 2021. On 5 March 2021, NASA named the landing site of the rover

Octavia E. Butler Landing Octavia E. Butler Landing is the February 18, 2021, landing site of the Mars 2020 ''Perseverance'' rover within Jezero crater on planet Mars. On March 5, 2021, NASA named the site for the renowned American science fiction author, Octavia E. B ...

Local features

* Séítah (pronounced //, meaning 'amidst the sand' in

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

) — potentially the oldest, accessible geologic units in Jezero Crater with multiple outcrops between the numerous sand ripples; location where ''Perseverance'' started the first year of its scientific campaign and took the first core samples. In December 2021, NASA announced that some of the rocks in Jezero in Seitah were igneous. When examined closely, rocks revealed the mineral olivine surrounded by the mineral pyroxene. That arrangement happens in thick magma bodies and geologists call this type of texture "Cumulate." Carbonate and sulfate minerals were also detected which means that the rocks had been altered by water. The instrument used for this analysis was the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL).

Crater

In a March 2015 paper, researchers from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

described how an ancient Martian lake system existed in Jezero. The study advanced the idea that water filled the crater at least two separate times. There are two channels on the northern and western sides of the crater that probably supplied it with water; each of these channels has a delta-like deposit where sediment was carried by water and deposited in the lake. Craters of a given diameter are expected to have a certain depth; a depth less than expected means sediment entered the crater. Calculations suggest that the crater may hold about of sediments. Most of the sediments may have been brought in by channels. Since it is believed that the lake was long-lived, life may have developed in the crater; the delta may have required a period of one to ten million years to form.

Clay minerals Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay mineral ...

have been detected in and around the crater. The ''

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...

'' identified

smectite A smectite (from ancient Greek ''σμηκτός'' smektos 'lubricated'; ''σμηκτρίς'' smektris 'walker's earth', 'fuller's earth'; rubbing earth; earth that has the property of cleaning) is a mineral mixtures of various swelling sheet sil ...

clays. Clays form in the presence of water, so this area probably once held water and maybe life in ancient times. The surface in places is cracked into polygonal patterns; such shapes often form when clay dries out. The image below depicts examples of these patterns, and a channel that carried water and sediments into the crater.

Exploration

Mars 2020 mission

MarsPerseveranceRover-PossibleRoutes-20210305

PIA24483-MarsPerseveranceRover-OctaviaEButler-LandingSite-20210305

Jezero, once considered a site for the

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on August ...

, was later proposed as a landing site for NASA's

mission, carrying the rover ''

'' and the helicopter '' Ingenuity''. In early 2017 it was selected as one of the top three candidate landing sites, along with

northeast Syrtis Northeast Syrtis is a region of Mars once considered by NASA as a landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission. This landing site failed in the competition with Jezero crater, another landing site dozens of kilometers away from Northeast Syrtis. I ...

, to the southwest. A primary aim of the Mars 2020 mission is to search for signs of ancient life. It is hoped that a later mission could then return Martian samples from sites identified as probably containing remains of life. To safely bring the craft down, a wide, smooth, flat circular area is needed. Geologists hope to examine places where water once ponded. They would like to examine sediment layers. In November 2018, Jezero was selected as the target landing site for Mars 2020. On 18 February 2021, ''Perseverance'' landed successfully in the crater. On 19 April 2021, ''Ingenuity'' performed the first powered flight on Mars from Jezero, which received the commemorative

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indicators'', ...

JZRO.

Mars Sample Retrieval Lander

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

–

team produced a three-launch architecture concept for a

Mars sample return A Mars sample-return (MSR) mission is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and sample-return mission, return them to Earth. Such a mission would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors. The thr ...

, which uses the Mars 2020 rover to cache small samples, a two-stage,

solid-fueled Solid fuel refers to various forms of solid material that can be burnt to release energy, providing heat and light through the process of combustion. Solid fuels can be contrasted with liquid fuels and gaseous fuels. Common examples of solid fuel ...

Mars ascent stage to send it into orbit, and an orbiter to rendezvous with it above Mars and take it to Earth.Planetary Science Decadal Survey Mission & Technology Studies
Sites.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-10. Solar-electric propulsion could allow a one launch sample return instead of three.Oh, David Y. ''et al.'' (2009
Single Launch Architecture for Potential Mars Sample Return Mission Using Electric Propulsion
JPL/Caltech. So, after a launch in July 2026, a lander with a Mars ascent rocket (developed by NASA) with two sample recovery helicopters lands exactly near the Mars 2020 rover at Three Forks in Jezero Crater in August 2028. The collected samples by Mars 2020 are delivers them to the ascent rocket. Once loaded with the samples, the Mars ascent rocket will launch with the sample return canister in spring 2029 and reach a low Mars orbit. This design would ease the schedule of the whole project, giving controllers time and flexibility to carry out the required operations. Furthermore, the program could rely on the successful landing system developed for the Mars Science Laboratory, avoiding the costs and risks associated with developing and testing yet another landing system from scratch. In addition, NASA may change the solar panels on lander with

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioacti ...

, a nuclear power source, to ensure sufficient power and to keep the rocket’s propulsion system from getting too cold, thus ensuring a longer lifetime, better thermal protection and safe operation even if they are carried in Mars Global Dust Storm Season, but these changes are still to be clarified by NASA. In 2022, the Perseverance Rover detected organic molecules in the crater.

Interactive Mars map

Gallery

File:PIA25068-MarsDustStorm-JezeroCrater-20220109.jpg, Dust storm on Mars - Jezero crater (white circle) (9 January 2022)

Notes

References

Robert Hazen Robert Miller Hazen (born November 1, 1948) is an American mineralogist and astrobiologist. He is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George ...

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; April 2014)
Video (86:49) - ''Search for Life in the Universe''
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; July 2014) {{Portal bar, Astronomy, Biology, Solar System, Spaceflight Impact craters on Mars Mars 2020 Syrtis Major quadrangle