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By NASA
Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
Visiting Mars on the Way to the Outer Solar System
Written by Roger Wiens, Principal Investigator, SuperCam instrument / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument at Purdue University
A portion of the “Sally’s Cove” outcrop where the Perseverance rover has been exploring. The radiating lines in the rock on the left of the image may indicate that it is a shatter cone, showing the effects of the shock wave from a nearby large impact. The image was taken by Mastcam-Z’s left camera on March 21, 2025 (Sol 1452, or Martian day 1,452 of the Mars 2020 mission) at the local mean solar time of 12:13:44. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast. This image was voted by the public as “Image of the week.” NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Recently Mars has had a few Earthly visitors. On March 1, NASA’s Europa Clipper flew within 550 miles (884 kilometers) of the Red Planet’s surface on its way out to Jupiter. On March 12, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft flew within about 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) of Mars, and only 300 kilometers from its moon, Deimos. Hera is on its way to study the binary asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos. Next year, in May 2026, NASA’s Psyche mission is scheduled to buzz the Red Planet on its way to the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche, coming within a few thousand kilometers.
Why all these visits to Mars? You might at first think that they’re using Mars as an object of opportunity for their cameras, and you would be partially right. But Mars has more to give these missions than that. The main reason for these flybys is the extra speed that Mars’ velocity around the Sun can give them. The idea that visiting a planet can speed up a spacecraft is not all that obvious, because the same gravity that attracts the spacecraft on its way towards the planet will exert a backwards force as the spacecraft leaves the planet.
The key is in the direction that it approaches and leaves the planet. If the spacecraft leaves Mars heading in the direction that Mars is traveling around the Sun, it will gain speed in that direction, slingshotting it farther into the outer solar system. A spacecraft can typically gain several percent of its speed by performing such a slingshot flyby. The closer it gets to the planet, the bigger the effect. However, no mission wants to be slowed by the upper atmosphere, so several hundred kilometers is the closest that a mission should go. And the proximity to the planet is also affected by the exact direction the spacecraft needs to go when it leaves Mars.
Clipper’s Mars flyby was a slight exception, slowing down the craft — by about 1.2 miles per second (2 kilometers per second) — to steer it toward Earth for a second gravity assist in December 2026. That will push the spacecraft the rest of the way to Jupiter, for its 2030 arrival.
While observing Mars is not the main reason for their visits, many of the visiting spacecraft take the opportunity to use their cameras either to perform calibrations or to study the Red Planet and its moons.
During Clipper’s flyby over sols 1431-1432, Mastcam-Z was directed to watch the skies for signs of the interplanetary visitor. Clipper’s relatively large solar panels could have reflected enough sunlight for it to be seen in the Mars night sky, much as we can see satellites overhead from Earth. Unfortunately, the spacecraft entered the shadow of Mars just before it came into potential view above the horizon from Perseverance’s vantage point, so the sighting did not happen. But it was worth a try.
Meanwhile, back on the ground, Perseverance is performing something of a cliff-hanger. “Sally’s Cove” is a relatively steep rock outcrop in the outer portion of Jezero crater’s rim just north of “Broom Hill.” Perseverance made an approach during March 19-23, and has been exploring some dark-colored rocks along this outcrop, leaving the spherules behind for the moment. Who knows what Perseverance will find next?
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Last Updated Mar 28, 2025 Related Terms
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
At left is NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, with a circle indicating the location of the calibration target for the rover’s SHERLOC instrument. At right is a close-up of the calibration target. Along the bottom row are five swatches of spacesuit materials that scientists are studying as they de-grade.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The rover carries several swatches of spacesuit materials, and scientists are assessing how they’ve held up after four years on the Red Planet.
NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to help scientists understand the planet’s climate and geography. But another key objective is to pave the way for human exploration of Mars, and as part of that effort, the rover carries a set of five spacesuit material samples. Now, after those samples have endured four years of exposure on Mars’ dusty, radiation-soaked surface, scientists are beginning the next phase of studying them.
The end goal is to predict accurately the usable lifetime of a Mars spacesuit. What the agency learns about how the materials perform on Mars will inform the design of future spacesuits for the first astronauts on the Red Planet.
This graphic shows an illustration of a prototype astronaut suit, left, along with suit samples included aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover. They are the first spacesuit materials ever sent to Mars. NASA “This is one of the forward-looking aspects of the rover’s mission — not just thinking about its current science, but also about what comes next,” said planetary scientist Marc Fries of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who helped provide the spacesuit materials. “We’re preparing for people to eventually go and explore Mars.”
The swatches, each three-quarters of an inch square (20 millimeters square), are part of a calibration target used to test the settings of SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), an instrument on the end of Perseverance’s arm.
The samples include a piece of polycarbonate helmet visor; Vectran, a cut-resistant material used for the palms of astronaut gloves; two kinds of Teflon, which has dust-repelling nonstick properties; and a commonly used spacesuit material called Ortho-Fabric. This last fabric features multiple layers, including Nomex, a flame-resistant material found in firefighter outfits; Gore-Tex, which is waterproof but breathable; and Kevlar, a strong material used in bulletproof vests that makes spacesuits more rip-resistant.
Martian Wear and Tear
Mars is far from hospitable. It has freezing temperatures, fine dust that can stick to solar panels and spacesuits (causing wear and tear on the latter), and a surface rife with perchlorates, a kind of corrosive salt that can be toxic to humans.
There’s also lots of solar radiation. Unlike Earth, which has a magnetic field that deflects much of the Sun’s radiation, Mars lost its magnetic field billions of years ago, followed by much of its atmosphere. Its surface has little protection from the Sun’s ultraviolet light (which is why researchers have looked into how rock formations and caves could provide astronauts some shielding).
“Mars is a really harsh, tough place,” said SHERLOC science team member Joby Razzell Hollis of the Natural History Museum in London. “Don’t underestimate that — the radiation in particular is pretty nasty.”
Razzell Hollis was a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 2018 to 2021, where he helped prepare SHERLOC for arrival on Mars and took part in science operations once the rover landed. A materials scientist, Razzell Hollis has previously studied the chemical effects of sunlight on a new kind of solar panel made from plastic, as well as on plastic pollution floating in the Earth’s oceans.
He likened those effects to how white plastic lawn chairs become yellow and brittle after years in sunlight. Roughly the same thing happens on Mars, but the weathering likely happens faster because of the high exposure to ultraviolet light there.
The key to developing safer spacesuit materials will be understanding how quickly they would wear down on the Martian surface. About 50% of the changes SHERLOC witnessed in the samples happened within Perseverance’s first 200 days on Mars, with the Vectran appearing to change first.
Another nuance will be figuring out how much solar radiation different parts of a spacesuit will have to withstand. For example, an astronaut’s shoulders will be more exposed — and likely encounter more radiation — than his or her palms.
Next Steps
The SHERLOC team is working on a science paper detailing initial data on how the samples have fared on Mars. Meanwhile, scientists at NASA Johnson are eager to simulate that weathering in special chambers that mimic the carbon dioxide atmosphere, air pressure, and ultraviolet light on the Martian surface. They could then compare the results generated on Earth while putting the materials to the test with those seen in the SHERLOC data. For example, the researchers could stretch the materials until they break to check if they become more brittle over time.
“The fabric materials are designed to be tough but flexible, so they protect astronauts but can bend freely,” Fries said. “We want to know the extent to which the fabrics lose their strength and flexibility over time. As the fabrics weaken, they can fray and tear, allowing a spacesuit to leak both heat and air.”
More About Perseverance
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance:
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Mar 26, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the Moon’s surface the afternoon of March 2, not quite 10 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander, which appears in this image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as a bright pixel casting a shadow in the middle of the white box, reached the surface of the Moon on March 2 at 3:34 a.m. EST.NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University The delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
Media Contact:
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 on the Moon’s surface on March 7, just under 24 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Later that day Intuitive Machines called an early end of mission for IM-2, which carried NASA technology demonstrations as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena lander, indicated here with a white arrow, reached the surface of the Moon on March 6, 2025, near the center of Mons Mouton. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the site at 12:54 p.m. EST on March 7.NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University The IM-2 mission lander is located closer to the Moon’s South Pole than any previous lunar lander.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
Media Contact:
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Related Terms
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) View the full article
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By European Space Agency
As ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission flew past planet Mars it autonomously locked onto dozens of impact craters and other prominent surface features to track them over time, in a full-scale test of the self-driving technology that the spacecraft will employ to navigate around its target asteroids.
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