Summary
Octavia E. Butler Landing is the February 18, 2021, landing site of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover within Jezero crater on planet Mars. On March 5, 2021, NASA named the site for the renowned American science fiction author, Octavia E. Butler, who died on February 24, 2006. The Mars landing took place nearly 15 years to the day after her death.[1][2] The coordinates of the landing site on Mars are 18°26′N 77°27′E / 18.44°N 77.45°E[3]
Description edit
Jezero Crater was chosen as the 2021 landing site for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Thought to have once been flooded with water, the crater contains a fan-delta deposit rich in clays.[4] The lake in the crater was present when valley networks were forming on Mars. Besides having a delta, the crater shows point bars and inverted channels. From a study of the delta and channels, it was concluded that the lake inside the crater probably formed during a period in which there was continual surface runoff.[5] Since it is believed that the lake was long-lived, life may have developed in the crater; the delta may have required a period of one to ten million years to form.[6]
Octavia E. Butler edit
Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an African American science fiction author who published a number of novel series between 1976 and 1998. A multiple recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, in 1995 she became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.[a][7][8]
Butler published standalone novels, short stories, essays and speeches. She was born in and grew up in Pasadena, California, the location of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Perseverance rover project.
Gallery edit
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ It wasn't until 2020 that another speculative fiction writer (N.K. Jemisin) received the prize.
References edit
- ^ "NASA's Perseverance Drives on Mars Terrain for First Time". NASA. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Welcome to "Octavia E. Butler Landing"". NASA. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Mars Lander Missions". NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Muir, Hazel. "Prime landing sites chosen for biggest Martian rover". New Scientist. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ Goudge, T. (2017). Stratigraphy and Evolution of Delta Channel Deposits, Jezero Crater Mars (PDF). Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2017). 1195.pdf.
- ^ Schon, S.; Head, J.; Fassett, C. (2012). "An overfilled lacustrine system and progradational delta in Jezero crater, Mars: Implications for Noachian climate". Planetary and Space Science. 67 (1): 28–45. Bibcode:2012P&SS...67...28S. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.02.003.
- ^ Crossley, Robert "Critical Essay" In Kindred, by Octavia Butler Boston: Beacon, 2004 ISBN 0807083690 (10) ISBN 978-0807083697 (13)
- ^ "Octavia Butler". MacArthur Foundation Fellows. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
