The Perseverance Rover is on Mars. Its mission is to collect samples for future use. The sample return mission has not been determined.
The Perseverance mission and how it spends the rest of its time on Mars are variables. There is a landing spot just west of Jezero Crater.
If intellectual curiosity about nature is one of humanity's best qualities, then the people associated with the HiRISE camera have a serious case of it. HiRISE is a camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A picture of the day shows a possible landing location for the Mars Sample Return mission.
It is based on a hopeful scenario, and it is well outside of Jezero Crater.
The image was acquired based on a hopeful scenario in which the Perseverance rover has an extended mission or two and travels outside of Jezero Crater to explore terrains to the west.
The way for the Perseverance Rover was paved by HiRISE. It was important to assess potential landing spots for the mission. The CRISM instrument played a critical role in identifying and mapping concentrations of different minerals on the Martian surface.
The carbonate minerals in Jezero Crater are particularly interesting because they form in the presence of water. Scientists thought they formed in the ancient paleolake inside Jezero, but recent research suggests they formed elsewhere and were carried into Jezero by a river. There is a possible landing spot upstream from Jezero Crater.
Perseverance has been on Mars for over 400 Earth days so far, and its planned mission length is 687 Earth days. Mars rovers extend their missions. The rover is in good shape, and Perseverance's RTG should provide enough power for a mission extension. It is possible that it could leave Jezero Crater and head west to explore interesting areas.
Perseverance won't exhaust all of the scientific potential in Jezero Crater. Why take the risk on an overland journey?
Perseverance's entire mission is a series of calculated risks, and so far the calculations have been reliable. If there are compelling reasons to leave Jezero, the mission operators might do it.
The region highlighted in the HiPOD could be a landing site for Mars Sample Return.
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