Title: Exploring Jezero Crater, Mars, with Perseverance and SuperCam
Abstract: Mars is still a mysterious planet, with only a few km2 so far explored by surface vehicles. The Perseverance rover’s exploration of Jezero crater since 2021 has yielded many surprises. This talk will focus on observations by the SuperCam remote-sensing instrument which provides the highest resolution remote imaging, chemical analyses by LIBS, mineral observations using VISIR reflectance spectroscopy and remote time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, and the first microphone to record the Mars soundscape. The talk will cover exploration from the igneous crater floor, the delta formation, an ancient river valley, and the crater rim; we will also discuss the value of the samples being collected for eventual to Earth.
Bio: Roger Wiens wrote the first thesis on the composition of the Mars atmosphere measured in the laboratory, sourced from martian meteorites. He holds degrees in Physics from Wheaton College and the University of Minnesota. He was a developer and Flight Payload Lead of NASA’s Genesis cosmochemistry mission, the first robotic mission to return from deep space. Subsequently, he developed and led exploration with the ChemCam laser remote sensing instrument for NASA’s Curiosity rover (landed 2012). He now leads the SuperCam instrument team on NASA’s Perseverance rover (landed 2021). With its international team, SuperCam uses three spectroscopy techniques, a microphone, and imaging to explore an ancient Martian lake and river delta. Dr. Wiens is a Senior Fellow of Los Alamos National Laboratory where he developed these instruments before joining the planetary science faculty at Purdue University in 2022. He was knighted by the government of France for “forging strong ties between the French and American scientific communities” and for “inspiring many young, ambitious earthlings.” He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Toulouse and is the namesake of Asteroid 41795 WIENS. His book, Red Rover: Inside the Story of "Robotic Space Exploration from Genesis to the Mars Rover Curiosity (Basic Books, 2013), describes his earlier space adventures.