Jezero Crater, here we are

It's an exciting week for fans of the red planet. In seven days, one robot successfully landed on Mars and another got its long-awaited landing point: Jezero Crater.

Robin Wordsworth, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS of the Harvard John A. Paulson School, has participated in NASA-led workshops to help select sites for the first time. Landing for the March 2020 rover mission.

Wordsworth, whose group is modeled after the old Martian cycle of climate and water, is excited about the Jezero crater as a landing site, in part because it offers a window on the very early climate on Mars.

We spoke with Wordsworth about the decision.

Why does Jerezo Crater interest you?

Wordsworth: Jezero Crater is fascinating because it contains a beautifully preserved river delta that formed billions of years ago, probably shortly after the formation of Mars. It therefore provides us with a window into the conditions of a potentially habitable planet in the earliest period of the solar system – a period that has virtually been erased from the Earth's geological record. It is of great interest to planetary science, because it will allow us to study the climate at the beginning, but also astrobiology, because it could contain signs of primitive Martian life.

What is the link between your research and the mission at Jezero Crater?

We study the climate and hydrology of early March with the help of a series of models, some of which are similar to those used to predict climate change on Earth. We have already used our models to develop global climate prediction to facilitate the selection of the landing site (this is the work I presented at the third workshop at the landing site last year). We are now planning to apply our models to Jezero directly to understand the likely environmental conditions at the time of delta formation. In turn, the new data from Jezero will help us constrain our models and paint a much more complete picture of what the early March was like.

What excites you the most when the new rover arrives on the site in 2021?

I am incredibly excited about the potential to better understand the duration of hot episodes of surface geology, especially geomorphology. Beyond that, I'm really looking forward to seeing if the Jezero delta contains traces of organic carbon in its sediments, which would be a strong indication of the biological activity of the lake at the time of its formation.