Perseverance Mars rover’s robotic arm starts conducting science

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is using its robotic arm to search for signs of ancient microbial life. 

The rover, which landed in Jezero Crater in February, had been functioning largely as a communications base between the autonomous Ingenuity Mars helicopter and the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) over the last couple of weeks, helping to document the rotorcraft’s historic flights.  However, NASA scientists have continued to work in an effort to better understand the red planet’s environmental history, aiming to create a timeline surrounding when the crater’s lake formed and dried billions of years ago.