Perseverance gets busy

Episode 170
Last month, Perseverance encountered one of the most interesting rocks of the entire mission. It came with a bonus rock that could help explain key events in the history of Jezero crater, but only if Perseverance could make the right moves.

[@briandeschene8424]

Your geological work on Mars via these video reports to the general public is unparalleled! Cannot write Thank You often enough or give you enough views or thumbs up so here’s something more!

[@MarsGuy]

I certainly appreciate your encouraging feedback and for valuing this channel. Thanks for supporting it.

[@jackieking1522]

Please be careful when kneeling on untested surfaces. That suit seems fragile for the circumstances.

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha, no worries.

[@ELMS]

You wait. “Here’s Mars Guy for scale.” is going to be our next big catch phrase. 😆

[@MarsGuy]

Well, it might be a wait!

[@alecity4877]

You wait for "here's mars guy for scale" on site

[@MrPinhead42]

I can't get enough of your geological teaching. Thanks!

[@JZsBFF]

I amazed of what one can learn from a scratch in a rock, the hue of a grain of sand and the alignment of a pebble. Pro-tip: "Never make a message runner from a geologist or naturalist." (paraphrased Captain Jack Aubrey, Master & Commander.)

[@r0cketplumber]

*Salacious* geological training- bump and grind, oh my.

[@MarsGuy]

Glad to have viewers who appreciate both the science and my attempts at humor!

[@rjung_ch]

Thank you and Simeon Schmaus for the great insight you present to us. Cheers 👍💪✌

[@almanuel6140]

well said!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks as always for watching.

[@JC-IV]

Great overlays, enjoy your trip!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks!

[@wayneharrison]

Considering that the average distance of Mars to Earth, is 225 million KM/140 million miles! Not only do we get picture perfect videos... BUT, off the charts detailed close-ups as well! MIND BLOWN!🤯

[@jpaulc441]

Sometimes I can't help but take them for granted and forget that these are pictures of another entire planet that no human has visited. I can't wait to see the surface of Titan when the flying Dragonfly probe lands.

[@MarsGuy]

Yes, pause for the wonder of it all.

[@RyanEmmett]

I really appreciate these fascinating updates and your witty scripts!

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you do! Thanks again.

[@BillMellman]

Love the new scaled live action

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you do, thanks.

[@apriladams7119]

Thank you once again, Mars Guy! Your channel is the best. I never fail to learn something when I watch. I am a bit dim when it comes to catching all your pop culture references, but I love them when I hear them. Also, I agree with @Sheaker comment about you doing geology work on Mars from Earth. Something about that statement has made me love and appreciate our home planet, the incredible people on it, and the people who study this wonderful home of ours, even more.

[@MarsGuy]

Happy to have viewers with a love of learning and an appreciation for the wonders of Mars and Earth. Thanks as always for watching and commenting.

[@damonbanks259]

😁 Thx, Mars Guy. I love the animated version. It's like we're all on Mars... 😊 Can't wait to see the results!

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you like it. Thanks.

[@Sheaker]

Thank You Mars Guy! It is amazing that You are actually doing Martian Geology on earth! Go Go!

[@MarsGuy]

Yeah, my day job is pretty cool!

[@motohddk]

Overlay Mars Guy, very nice!

[@JZsBFF]

"It's evolution, Baby." - Pearl Jam "Do The Evolution".

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you like it!

[@Oldschool811]

Best 4 minutes I invest every Sunday great work my friend 😊

[@MarsGuy]

Glad it pays off!

[@craigmackay4909]

Sample return is cool . But geologist boot on the ground by 2035 would be awesome.

[@ElDJReturn]

Welcome to Oregon and thanks for all your hard work on the weekly updates. The Mars Guy for Scale keeps getting better!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks, and glad you think so.

[@CXT14GamerMouse]

I love to see the mars guy coming back to life, after you explained it's too much work. I see it as a good sign, that you are able to put more time into this channel

[@MarsGuy]

Actually, I'm now able to re-use bits of the green screen video we shot a few years ago. Glad you like it.

[@neilmusgrove4668]

As always interesting and informative, its good to look beyond the technology to try to see what is important, the search for the possibility of conditions suitable for past life. These descriptions of the land forms and geology is obviously coming from a place of knowledge and experience, thank you.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks for the encouraging feedback. Glad you appreciate this content.

[@Muny]

Good to see Mars Guy has finally thawed and is able to move his joints!

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha!

[@1kreature]

As a bonus the bumping seems to have fractures some of the other rocks as the wheels rolled back and forth over them too! Bonus science!

[@MarsGuy]

Indeed!

[@mrsmissy2669]

Can't wait to see more results of that bumping and grinding going on up there. Great video as usual.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks, more to come.

[@00kt86]

Dude, you left me hanging.

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha

[@ericfielding2540]

The new animated Mars Guy for scale is very cool. The geologic explanation is excellent.

[@bobmillerick300]

I hope they're giving you frequent flyer miles for you traveling back and forth from Mars to Earth. Awesome as always MG 😎

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha. If only...

[@Rmm1722]

Good work and love the animation of you on mars 😅❤🎉

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you do, thanks.

[@General_Confusion]

How can they get a pristine sample of it when Mars Guy has been walking all over it with his big Mars boots?

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha!

[@chrisoconnor6579]

@marsguy. Stop stepping on the samples!!!

[@MarsGuy]

Oops!

[@KCFreitag]

"B&G." I spit my coffee!

[@MarsGuy]

Sorry, not sorry!

[@theeddorian]

Heh! "Bump and grind." My geology instructors remarked that during field school sessions they could determine roughly what time of day a student decided to label a formation by whether the reference was to food - before lunch, or sex and alcohol - after lunch.

[@MarsGuy]

Oh my!

[@wompswag9532]

Another enlightening video as always. Thank for being a regular part of my Sunday routine during this very hectic year. Have a safe trip!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks for being a regular viewer!

[@rickc4317]

Excellent, interesting info once again, Mars Guy. Thanks!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks again!

[@caevans61]

I see what you did there.. "Bump and Grind".. 😅😊 Great work. Much success in your current field work!👍

[@MarsGuy]

Shaking things up! And thanks.

[@learnwhispering]

fabulous... 💕💕 love your videos

[@MarsGuy]

Great, thanks.

[@flamencoprof]

You need to bump and grind to strip away those layers.

[@Don.Challenger]

The use of "protuberance" alone is worth the episode, everything else is gravy - very proud of that oddity poking up.

[@MarsGuy]

Ha, glad you appreciated that!

[@keepmoving1185]

Welcome to Oregon! Sorry for the heat! Enjoy your stay 🫶🏻

[@MarsGuy]

Not quite as hot as my home state of AZ in the Phoenix area. Beautiful though near Eugene.

[@itsprivate4360]

Learning so much from Mars Guy since the beginning. I imagine a short stay on Mars (month) would be testing your sense of humour considering the day in, day out gloom of light including its strange sunrises and sunsets.

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you're onboard. And I would like the opportunity for that short stay on Mars!

[@wizardchairman3691]

*Gr8 Video!! “Here’s Mars Guy for scale.”!!*

[@MarsGuy]

Thx!

[@billygamer3941]

Thank you for the explanation of that which we earlier saw. Doing so during your busy field season is appreciated.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks, glad you appreciate this.

[@dave8181]

I always feel we are in safe hands with you, and we get the best insights into Martian geological processes and history too.

[@MarsGuy]

I appreciate your confidence, thanks!

[@drguenther]

Thanx for taking the time to produce your weekly update, even being busy in the field!

[@MarsGuy]

Glad to have appreciative viewers.

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

Woah.... Mars guy is walking now??!?

[@MarsGuy]

Shaking things up!

[@glennbabic5954]

The horn protuberance just looks like conglomerate gravel and clay, like snapping off a piece of Toblerone. Pretty basic stuff

[@RussTillling]

Awesome MG. Geology is so fascinating so, although I have no training, I love it when you extrapolate geological evidence into potential play outs of natural events over geological time periods. (Hopefully you’ll get lots of people interested in Geology.) I’m going to imagine volcanoes spewing pyroclastic clouds which settled on to the sedimentary rock!

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks for the encouraging feedback. Great to know viewers appreciate a bit of geology and are thinking about.

[@middleagedwhitebloke]

👍🏻. Thank you Mars Guy.

[@MarsGuy]

Yep!

[@kccorliss3922]

Mars must not become a den of debauchery and twerking! 👊

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha!

[@MrGaborseres]

👍 Thanks

[@MarsGuy]

Yep

[@Shanghaimartin]

Why bother with all these rovers doing the science. Just ask Mars Guy, he's right there !!

[@MarsGuy]

Ha, if only!

[@motoflyte]

I was born in Oregon. Lots of geological stuff there, especially eastern oregon

[@MarsGuy]

Indeed. It's also a beautiful place (we were just east of Eugene).

[@hawkdsl]

I have to keep reminding myself even though this looks like a typical Earth desert... A quick Google and the avg high temps there (Summer) are 62F (17C), but the kicker is night time... -130F (-93C). Argh!

[@MarsGuy]

Indeed! Glad you looked it up.

[@chaosopher23]

They gave Mars Guy a geo-hammer but not a shovel? We have to know what's under those rocks. A walk along a wooded path or a rocky beach and you can see lots of rocks, but until you turn one over, you cannot know for certain what's hidden from the hot sun or cold night. Percy is the size of a big SUV, I would think he has a bit of muscle to flip a 40 pound rock. We could put a water well drilling rig on Mars.

[@johnmerrett5186]

Nice one MG, THX. JPM🚀⛏️🇬🇧😎

[@MarsGuy]

Thx again!

[@ncdave4]

WOAH! Had to do a double take on the lead-in. Mars Guy in Motion? complete with shadows? I knew it wasn't ME, so who was it?

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha! Interplanetary man of mystery.

[@scottthomas6202]

Maybe SpaceX could adopt the Mars Guy suit...

[@RickBevi-w4w]

Once again MG sees things that we don’t see thank you also do you think MG could fix the helicopter

[@MarsGuy]

Ha, I wish!

[@carlostorresortiz]

OMG animated mars guys for scale shocked me

[@MarsGuy]

Shaking things up!

[@kevinbissett293]

I love the investigation work you do. I have a question for you. The planet seems to at one time has a uniform organized landscape to it. Does it seem that way to you? I appears that it was totally decimated by some catastrophic even. Do you see that? Great Episode. Keep doing what you are doing my Friend. Have a Great Day. Thanks for all you do.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks for the encouraging words. Mars, like Earth, has always been in states of construction and destruction, with new rocks formed by volcanism and sedimentation and others being destroyed by erosion. These processes on Mars were more intense in the past.

[@bennyandersen742]

Thanks for giving martian dirt the attention it deserves. Alone for billions of years.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks for caring about it!

[@corychristensen5917]

Volcanic rocks in Oregon? Eastern Oregon? Enjoy your visit here

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks. We were just east of Eugene.

[@daltongalloway]

Maybe the area dried up then became a small pond or stream several years later before drying up again

[@dbaider9467]

It was once a very busy planet, geologically. It's hard to get ones head around the time scale. What was earth doing at the same time these formations were occurring on Mars? Much the same formative stuff?

[@MarsGuy]

Great that you're pondering this!

[@AeroGraphica]

I really wonder what could cause the flooding events that brought the coarse grains of olivine and subsequent veins. Was there seasons, or just random geological events that caused water to flow suddenly and occasionally...

[@MarsGuy]

It's not yet clear whether the coarse material was brought in by water or possibly by flows of material generated by explosive volcanic activity known as pyroclastic density currents.

[@AeroGraphica]

@@MarsGuy Interesting ,thank you !! I suppose in the case of pyroclastics the grains would show different abrasion, if any.

[@geovanefreitas2923]

Hello, sir. Thank you very much for providing such perfect images and explaining about the geology of Mars. Perhaps I can assist in your research; I have some meteorites with fusion crust in perfect condition, which are composed exclusively of sedimentary materials and exhibit various levels of impact. Sincerely, Geovane Freitas.

[@MarsGuy]

Glad you appreciate learning about Mars geology. Mars meteorites that have reached Earth certainly have helped.

[@fredwood1490]

I wonder if there might be a little sub-routine that checks, casually, for micro plastics? Just in case, ya know.

[@MarsGuy]

Ha, doubtful!

[@AndrewBlucher]

The loose surface material appears as though it is eroded from that course deposit.

[@MarsGuy]

Yes, I think some of the loose, coarse grains in the vicinity could be eroded from the rocks.

[@farmergiles1065]

So, if I understand you, after all that bumping and grinding, all attempts so far at seeing what's been going on have been "in vein". 😉

[@sjTHEfirst]

NASA is always looking at rocks, why don’t they have the rover test a tree?

[@billykershaw2781]

Are there any other processes other than heat and pressure that would glue this stuff together, fascinating....

[@MarsGuy]

Yes, any available water can contribute to mineral cements that help "lithify" sedimentary deposits.

[@billykershaw2781]

@@MarsGuy a bit like calcite straws or stalagmites.... thanks Mars Guy!

[@johncnorris]

Go Ducks!

[@AerialWaviator]

Happy "Mars Bar" day, aka World Chocolate Day.

[@MarsGuy]

Mmmm, chocolate!

[@iggyzorro2406]

at 1:41, center right, there was a sparkle (like a diamond) - just light hitting a rock edge or some other natural surface?

[@MarsGuy]

Perseverance can generate bright bits of rock as it crushes them under the wheels. This is evident at 3:07.

[@FredPlanatia]

next thing you know we'll have some slang terms for 'twerking' on mars. What's that gonna be?

[@MarsGuy]

Ha ha!

[@goodwaterhikes]

👍😎✌

[@chadtaylor7633]

Hey this is your job now. Please provide a full video.😜

[@MarsGuy]

Yeah, I'd be starving!

[@chadtaylor7633]

Love the animated Mars Guy. There’s a lot of Mars KZbinrs, but yours is the best.

[@wills.9807]

Anyone placing bets on the composition of the top, course grained material?

[@soulsofpresentgracethompso5990]

NJoy Oregon

[@RaySpainPlayer]

Excellent deduction and a lovely punchline. Thank you.

[@MarsGuy]

Thanks. I'll emphasize that I'm offering my interpretations based on incomplete data.