Inside the world of extinct animals is a special club—species with dangerous looks. To get a meal or avoid becoming one, both predator and prey refined physical traits to interesting effect.

From fangs in whales to herbivores with a taste for meat and carnivores unlike anything seen today, ancient animals were survival specialists. Recent fossils also revealed unknown predators that terrified the prehistoric landscape and solved the mystery of a unique, if not gruesome, shark.

10 Whales That Ate Whales

Egypt’s Wadi Al-Hitan (“Valley of the Whales”) is littered with the bones of extinct whales. In 2010, researchers stumbled upon a skeleton sticking through the sand. It was identified as Basilosaurus isis. This customer grew 15–18 meters (50–60 ft) long and lived 34 million to 38 million years ago.

Although it was a whale, B. isis did not snack on krill or plankton like its modern relatives. The creature was a ferocious predator that preyed on other whales. This specimen, in particular, provided the first clear evidence.

Inside the stomach curled the remains of a calf. The latter belonged to a smaller whale called Dorudon atrox, a species that matured at 5 meters (16 ft) long. Crush marks on the calf’s skull matched the adult whale’s teeth, proving it was a kill and not a dead body the larger animal had scavenged.^[1]

Once again, the dental side of this ancient whale was far removed from any modern species. B. isis had fangs like a wolf and sharp teeth in the back of its mouth.

9 Largest Early Jurassic Predator

Near the Italian village of Saltrio, a quarry produced a special dinosaur in 1996. Years of dynamite blasts inside the quarry did the fossil no favors. In the end, 130 pieces were recovered. Saltriovenator zanellai took nearly 20 years to put together and identify as a new species.

Weighing about a ton, it was the Early Jurassic’s largest-known predator. Although not the biggest carnivorous dinosaur that ever lived, Saltriovenator was nevertheless formidable. It prowled on two legs and grew serrated teeth and deadly claws.

The time it lived—around 198 million years ago—was significant because this predated the existence of large meat eaters by a cool 25 million years. The beast, which grew to 7.6 meters (25 ft) long, died as a juvenile.

When it was 24 years old, the hunter somehow ended up on the seabed. The scars left by scavengers also made the fossil unique. Never before had any dinosaur remains been found that had been nibbled on by at least three distinct marine creatures—ancient sharks, urchins, and sea worms.^[2]

8 Meat-Eating Herbivores

Pachycephalosaurus often appears in children’s dinosaur books. Illustrations show the dome-headed dinosaurs knocking their heads together in battle or grazing on plants. These animals were classified as vegetarians even though only partial jaws were found. Strangely, they were always the back part of the jaw, but they had classic herbivore teeth. Pachycephalosaurus undoubtedly enjoyed mashing fruit and rough plants.

In 2018 in Albuquerque, researchers gathered in confusion around the most complete skull ever found. For the first time, the juvenile contained a complete front jaw. It sported very different teeth. Serrated and sharp, the pointy blades reminded experts of carnivore teeth, especially those of T. rex. Notably, Pachycephalosaurus lived during the same time (66 million to 68 million years ago).

Further research might change their classification to opportunistic hunter and omnivore, but the discovery could also solve an enduring mystery. Very often, rocks from this period produce the teeth of small carnivores nobody can find. Pachycephalosaurus might very well be the source.^[3]

7 The Oldest Tyrannosaur

In 2012, an expedition uncovered bone fragments in New Mexico. Found in the Menefee Formation, the skeleton was badly weathered. For this reason, restoration dragged on for years. Once completed, the creature turned out to be an 80-million-year-old type of tyrannosaur.

It was a remarkable find. The new dinosaur predated the other 25 species of tyrannosaurs by millions of years. Dynamoterror dynastes was unusually large for such an early version of the lineage. It eventually became clear that the 9-meter-long (30 ft) carnivore belonged to the same subgroup that included large relatives such as T. rex, which lived around 15 million years later.

Dynamoterror is special for another reason. North America’s dinosaur evolution experienced a strange split around this time. A sea divided the continent, causing the same types of dinosaur to develop differently in the north and south. The new tyrannosaur’s differences from those of similar age could reveal more about these unusual evolutionary pockets.^[4]

6 Madagascar’s Super Crocodile

When a species is missing its early history, paleontologists call it a “ghost lineage.” The notosuchians are one such group. In 2017, a discovery not only suggested that they originated from southern Gondwana (the original supercontinent) but also presented a new notosuchian member.

Found in Madagascar, Razanandrongobe sakalavae resembled a crocodile. The head alone was 1 meter (3.3 ft) long. It had an unfriendly grin. Each tooth measured 15 centimeters (6 in) in length. In fact, they rather resembled those of T. rex, making the croc thing an apex predator of its time.

Researchers puzzled the species together using the new find and pieces rediscovered in museums. The combined data showed that R. sakalavae was perhaps the biggest notosuchian and definitely the oldest. It chased dinosaurs for dinner around 163 million years ago, a date that beat the previous oldest notosuchian by a mind-bending 42 million years.^[5]

5 Destroyer Of Shins

When a dinosaur died 76 million years ago, it was destined to be named after a monster in the Ghostbusters movie (1984). The fictional Zuul was a hellhound with a face like a gargoyle.

In 2014, the fossil reemerged in Montana. It was a previously unknown ankylosaurid—a dinosaur resembling an armored tank with a distinctive tail used like a club. The fossil was so well-preserved that its looks garnered the movie-inspired name Zuul crurivastator.

When it perished, Zuul was buried in river sand. This preserved even the soft tissue covering the armor and flank damage that suggested it argued with its own kind—which, in itself, was nothing to laugh at.

Although they were herbivores, this species came equipped with a tail that could smash the legs of T. rex. Tipped with a bony ball, the tail was adorned with spikes and measured 2 meters (7 ft) long. While its face was responsible for the “Zuul” part, the tail earned the rest of the creature’s name—crurivastator means “destroyer of shins.”^[6]

4 Dinosaurs With Mohawks

Among the most recognizable of dinosaurs, sauropods were giant herbivores with whiplike tails and long necks. Not all sauropods were big enough to use size as a defense.

In 2013, a smaller species was located in Argentina. The fossil belonged to a brand-new species called Bajadasaurus pronuspinax. At merely 9–10 meters (30–33 ft) long, it was tiny in comparison to other sauropods.

When paleontologists found a bony spine, analysis suggested that it was one of several that ran the length of the dinosaur’s neck and back, almost like a Mohawk. They were likely thin, sharp, and very long. In addition, the spikes probably had a layer of keratin that gave them a hornlike appearance.^[7]

Since the bizarre feature vanished with the species 140 million years ago, confirming its purpose would be a difficult task. A plausible theory is that the sauropods developed Mohawks to look bigger and more dangerous than they really were.

3 The Meat Hook Hunter

A pretty cool nightmare once haunted South America. The size of a truck, it ate meat and hunted with talons that resembled 40-centimeter (16 in) meat hooks. Its discovery in 2006 was a festive moment for scientists. Its group, Megaraptoridae, is exceptionally mysterious.

This specimen was also one of the largest of its kind and the last. Unfortunately, it lived in the Late Cretaceous when dinosaurs went extinct. Unearthed in Argentina, Tratayenia rosalesi managed to fill in some details about its species.^[8]

The carnivore measured 9 meters (30 ft) long and had bones with air pockets. This feature exists in a living relative—modern birds. When T. rosalesi lived 95 million to 85 million years ago, it might have been more closely related to T. rex. This could explain the serrated, daggerlike teeth and why T. rosalesi was among the biggest and most lethal hunters of its time.

2 T. rex Made Deadly Turns

When most people think about Tyrannosaurus rex hunting, a large and stomping predator comes to mind. One might not credit this barreling hulk with turns that are precision moves. After all, these creatures weighed around 400 kilograms (880 lb). However, T. rex could intercept swerving prey by turning like a figure skater.

New research in 2018 found that their hip bones and leg muscles were specially adapted to make them the ballerinas from hell. Also, the kids were even deadlier. A juvenile T. rex could twirl faster than its elders, undoubtedly a perk that helped them survive to adulthood.

These dinosaurs lived during the Cretaceous (145 million to 65 million years ago). To see if pivoting was a thing among predators of the time, researchers used cutting-edge techniques to study other species that frightened everything else during the Cretaceous. When all the monsters were made to digitally turn on a single foot, T. rex spun up to three times faster than the rest.^[9]

1 The Scissor Shark

Around 330 million years ago (long before the dinosaurs), there was a shark unlike any other. Edestus was first discovered in the 19th century when fossils showed up in England and the United States.

Ever since, experts have argued about its eating habits—more specifically, why the so-called “scissor shark” had such weird teeth. The teeth of modern sharks grow along upper and lower crescents. Edestus‘s two rows of snappers resembled pinking shears. The feature has never been seen in any species before or since.^[10]

As there was nothing for scientists to go on, debates and theories proliferated until a recent CT scan. The scan inspired a three-dimensional replica of the head which revealed the shark’s horrific chomp. Incredibly, the jaw appeared to work on a double-jointed system that sliced prey apart. As the shark bit, the sawlike teeth of the upper and lower jaws snapped together before the bottom slid backward to amputate a piece.

Northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), in the Cu Chi district, the remains of an intricate underground network tell the story of the human imperative to survive. Once spanning tens of thousands of miles, these extensive tunnels were dug by the Communist Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Used as secret hideouts, living spaces, and supply routes, the Cu Chi tunnels and surrounding area became the most aggressively targeted region by enemy forces. Here, relentless bombing, gassing, and soldier infiltration devastated the land and vegetation, forcing entire villages underground. In spite of their circumstances, the Viet Cong maintained land possession and defeated foreign intrusion with tactics that had never been seen before.

10Underground Digging

In the darkness of night, men and women of all ages dug the great network of tunnels by hand with little more than rudimentary tools. For digging in soft earth (post-wet season) the simple hoe could suffice, while crowbars took the brunt of hard ground and rock. Remarkably, soil and excavated material would be carried out of tunnels in bamboo baskets and plastic bags. All traces of digging had to be carefully dispersed to keep the tunnel sites covert. Bomb craters and rivers became dumping grounds in many locations.^[1]

Though tunnel excavation originally took place close to the surface of the ground, over time, artillery and bombings forced the Viet Cong to dig deeper and deeper, 10 meters subsurface. Underground networks became more expansive and complex as hospitals, dorms, workshops, meeting rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms were needed. Ultimately, all necessary facets of village life could be found within the tunnels.

9Tunnel Levels

The tunnels were cleverly organized into four levels at varying depths. The first level, at three to four meters below ground, housed traps, ventilation shafts, and firing posts. Descending further to the second level, you would find kitchens and sleeping chambers. Withstanding mortar attacks at 6 to 7 meters subsurface, the third level gave way to aid stations, storage, and tunnel connections.^[2]

At its amazing depth of eight to 10 meters, the fourth level tapped into the tunnel’s water sources. Water played a vital role in the survival of the Viet Cong living in the tunnels. Not only were wells dug to provide suitable drinking water, but also each tunnel led to the Saigon River. During low tide, the Viet Cong used this tunnel-river connection as a bathroom of sorts. This waterway also served, in emergency situations, as an escape route.

8Ventilation

To survive the extreme lack of oxygen underground, Viet Cong forces channeled air through widely dispersed holes in the earth. With this technique, they accommodated thousands of soldiers within the underground layer.

Accounts from the Viet Cong soldiers describe scenarios in which they were forced to remain underground for weeks at a time. By lying on the tunnel floor and limiting breathing, precious air was rationed. During such times, ventilation became the most important factor in survival.^[3]

7Community Life

As with all components of their village life, surviving brutal tunnel conditions depended on a strong communal mentality. Withstanding dire food shortages, communities were sometimes left to eat stale rice, grass, and even drink their own urine.^[4]

Women, children, and able persons of all ages were taught to contribute and fight in the tunnels. Yet, their lives weren’t only summarized by defense and combat. At times, bombs dropped overhead, while laughter permeated tunnel walls. Song, dance, and drama performers toured the tunnels, “a gun in one hand, guitar in the other.” Throughout the gloom of war, the Viet Cong managed to create moments of joy, uplifting village moral and fostering group solidarity.

6Recycled American Weaponry

To overcome major disadvantages in their caliber of weaponry and technology, the Viet Cong diligently collected waste materials and supplies left by the Americans.

Detonated bombs were gathered for metal repurposing—the shrapnel was sold, and earnings were used to supply food to the tunnel dwellers. Detonators themselves were repaired and reused in combat.^[5] Consequently, the Viet Cong ingeniously fought the American forces with their own weapons.

5Scent Concealment

In addition to weapons, American soap, uniforms, and belongings were stolen and reused for the purpose of diverting American and German sniff dogs. Viet Cong soldiers placed these items in ventilation holes and surrounding entranceways to confuse war canines into thinking they were the traces of friendly American soldiers.

While allowing breathing air, small ventilation channels were also designed to disperse cooking smoke and burning firewood. Strategically hidden at the base of trees, within thick grasses, and even in termite nests, these holes were very difficult to detect.^[6]

4Secret Entrance Ways

To surprise American soldiers from the rear, Viet Cong fighters would spot Allied troops passing one location then creep up and attack from a closer passageway. American soldiers were often tricked by the Viet Cong’s gunshots, which seemed to be coming from the edge of forests. In actuality, the shots were emerging from secret entrances, deep within the brush.^[7]

These hidden entrance ways also allowed Viet Cong soldiers to quickly vanish belowground to safety when under attack. During the night, the Viet Cong would even sneak out of various tunnels that surrounded American bases, stealing ammunition, weapons, and food.

3Narrow Tunnel Walls

Body size became a key advantage for the slender Viet Cong, who could slip easefully underground through their tiny entranceways and tunnel walls. Wide-bodied Americans would invariably get stuck in these tight enclosures. Over time, smaller-bodied “Tunnel Rats” were trained within the American forces, to follow the Viet Cong into their tunnels. But, outsmarted once again, Tunnel Rats were then met with a series of U-turns and narrow twists in which they quickly became disoriented.

The tunnel walls were even so narrow that the long M1 American rifles would become lodged, trapping the American soldier or forcing him to retreat with his rifle firing in the wrong direction.^[8]

2Underground Hospitals

Overcoming major supply shortages underground, subsurface hospitals resourcefully fashioned blood infusions with bicycle pumps and empty bottles. With such devices, a patient’s own blood was bottle-collected then reintroduced into the body using the pump and a rubber hose. Such rudimentary aid stations were operated by torchlight, fashioned out of repurposed shrapnel.

While pharmaceutical medicine was purchased on the black market, herbal remedies and acupuncture were also commonly administered.^[9]

1Booby Traps

Positioned at ground level and within the tunnels, “Punji traps” are the most iconic booby-traps used by the Viet Cong. Harvested from their native forests, durable bamboo sticks sharpened like arrow heads were staked, sharp end up, in crude dugouts. They were camouflaged to look like the forest floor, and unsuspecting enemy soldiers would misstep and fall to their bloody doom.^[10]

Other Punji traps were not necessarily aimed to kill but rather to slow enemy troops, sometimes to a halt. Here, the sides of a dugout held bamboo stakes pointing in a downward angle. A soldier accidentally stepping into a pit would become pinned by the leg and require comrades to tend to the situation.

Smeared in a concoction of poisonous plants, frog innards, and even feces, these bamboo punji sticks could cause severe infection in the victim soldier.

Lauren ventures into the wild teaching primitive skills, crafting journals, and quenching her insatiable curiosity! Co-founder, writer, and photographer for OnWords Collective.

The Perseverance has landed. On February 18, NASA’s most ambitious rover to date competed a nearly seven-month journey from Earth to begin a years-long exploration of the red planet.

Weighing a metric ton and costing more than $2 billion to design, construct and validate, Perseverance has one overarching goal: finding unprecedented evidence of ancient life on a planet other than ours. Much like the moon landing more then half a century earlier, it is a feel-good example of mankind’s ingenuity during especially trying times.

Here are ten terrific facts about Perseverance’s mission to Mars.

10 Seven Minutes in Hell

Fortunately for the Perseverance team, the hardest part of the mission is already behind them. This difficulty is twofold: the challenges of landing a rover on another planet, and its human controllers’ complete inability to do anything to assist.

As demonstrated in previous Martian missions, it takes approximately seven minutes for the vehicle to touch down on the surface from the time it enters the planet’s atmosphere traveling 12.000 mph. The high-velocity descent, combined with the 11 minutes it takes radio signals to travel between Earth and Mars, means the NASA crew can do nothing more than wait and pray.

NASA calls this the “seven minutes of terror,” where the combination of high risk and human helplessness leaves everyone in the control room wondering whether years of building the most sophisticated rover in history will come to an abrupt, fruitless end via crash.

Perseverance had two other factors working against it. First, at a metric ton, it is easily the heaviest rover NASA had ever attempted to land on Mars. Second, its destination – the Jezero Crater, perceived as the likeliest place to find signs of ancient microbial life – is a high-risk/high-reward choice pocked with boulders and steep cliffs.

Luckily Perseverance persevered, aided by two new technologies its predecessors lacked. One, a range trigger, allows the rover to decide precisely when to deploy its 70-foot parachute. The other, called terrain relative navigation, essentially gives Perseverance eyes and a map to ensure it touches down safely. Allen Chen, the leader of the mission’s Entry, Descent and Landing team, doubts Jezero Crater would have been a feasible landing spot were it not for these two advancements.

9 Looking for Life in All the Right Places

As explained by then-NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine before last year’s launch, Perseverance stands as “the first time in history where we’re going to go to Mars with an explicit mission to find life on another world — ancient life on Mars.”

Indeed, the landing site was chosen with discovering evidence of life on Mars – past or present – top of mind. Perseverance touched down on Mars’ 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater, which scientists believe once held a body of water approximately the size of Lake Tahoe. Jezero also has a major channel stemming from it, which suggests that water once flowed freely to or from the ancient lake. Judging by the crater’s depth, the lake it once held was likely hundreds of feet deep.

All this water movement causes what for life-seeking scientists is a very compelling occurrence: sediment deposits across the broad delta of the crater’s bowl-like floor. If microbial life ever existed on Mars, one of its likeliest locales was right here. The reasoning is that the earliest forms of life on Earth occurred in similar scenarios some 3.5 billion years ago – when, scientists believe, Mars still had ample flowing water.

Perseverance’s primary mission is to find the sort of telltale “biosignatures” that, if life did once exist on Mars, are likely to be dispersed in layered deposits throughout Jezero Crater’s floor. In doing so, it may provide a definitive answer of whether Earth is the sole source of life in our solar system.

8 Space Helicopter?

Yes, space helicopter. Along for the 300,000,000-mile ride with Perseverance is the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Weighing all of four pounds, the little guy isn’t much more than a four-legged flying camera.

More than anything, Ingenuity is an interplanetary test flight. Its chief purpose is to prove that a helicopter can fly in Mars’ extremely thin atmosphere – a feat that demands exponentially more lift. For that reason, Ingenuity features four specially made carbon-fiber blades, arranged into two rotors that spin in opposite directions at around 2,400 rpm – many times faster than a helicopter on Earth. The cold is another challenge. Nighttime temperatures on Mars plunge to -90° C, which will push the tolerability limits of Ingenuity’s components.

The inability to control Ingenuity in real-time poses another obstacle. While Perseverance moves very deliberately along the ground, a flying instrument like Ingenuity makes it impossible to steer with a joystick, since command signals take so long to reach Mars. As a result, Ingenuity will take orders in advance, then take off largely on its own volition. It is also responsible for autonomously charging itself using its solar panel – a task Perseverance doesn’t need to undertake because of its novel nuclear battery.

As if being the first object to fly on a distant planet wasn’t enough, Ingenuity has another task: surveillance. The copter carries a high resolution downward-looking camera that, in addition to helping it navigate, can survey, for example, the ground immediately over a hill. The goal is ascertaining potential points of interest for the intentionally slow-moving Perseverance rover to analyze.

7 Armed and Ready

Perseverance’s most prominent feature is its sophisticated, seven-foot robotic arm. Designed to mimic a human appendage for intuitive control from Earth, Perseverance’s exemplary extension comes complete with a shoulder, elbow, and rotating “wrist.” It even has a gripper that functions, as much as possible, as a human hand would – a robotized remake of the greatest tool Mother Nature ever invented.

Perseverance’s arm can reach the vast majority of its science-centric parts, enabling it to efficiently access its “hand tools” to extract core samples from the ground, take microscopic images of its surroundings, and analyze the elemental composition and mineral makeup of Martian rocks and soil.

Its rotary percussive drill is particularly impressive. The sophisticated tool – made possible in part by Perseverance’s turret-like hand – uses rotary motion to penetrate the Martian surface and collect its precious samples. Equipped with an assortment of drill bits for various purposes – including those specifically for scraping off top layers to expose subcutaneous areas – the self-sealing system is deposited by the robotic arm directly into collection tubes.

Another of the arm’s sampling devices is PIXL, which seeks out changes in textures and chemicals in Martian rocks and soil, in an effort to detect signs of ancient life. PIXL will study candidate specimens to help determine which ones are the most scientifically interesting targets for further examination.

6 Listen Up

Perseverance is equipped with a pair of sophisticated, highly detailed microphones. They are the first ever sent to another planet, and offer NASA its first-ever ability to eavesdrop on our galactic next-door neighbor. First and foremost, the rover will be recording the whistling Martian winds – which are notoriously strong, and whose propensity for kicking up dust actually ended a previous rover’s usefulness by covering its solar panels irreversibly.

Perseverance also will be listening to… well, itself. The crunch of its wheels rolling across the surface will not only provide evidence if the rover’s continued viability, but also may offer certain insight into Martian soil composition.

Notably, it’s possible that Perseverance’s arrival also was detected by a fellow spacecraft. In 2018, NASA landed the InSight probe about some 3,500 km (2,200 miles) away. InSight features a seismometer to track for earthquakes – or rather, marsquakes – shaking the ground. Scientists believe there’s a chance the probe may feel Perseverance land on Mars.

It would be the first seismic detection of a known impact on another planet, and could reveal more information about the Martian interior, since such waves can help map geological features underground. Unfortunately, as of a few days before Perseverance’s arrival, InSight’s capabilities were diminished due to dust build-up on its solar panels. Details on whether it “heard” its sister explorer touch down should be available soon.

5 Nuclear Battery

To avoid the wind-blown fate of its predecessor – whose solar panels were covered in soil by a Martian dust storm, permanently paralyzing it through energy depletion – Perseverance has a novel power generation device: a nuclear battery.

Perseverance is powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), provided to NASA by the U.S. Department of Energy. The 99-pound MMRTG converts heat from the natural radioactive decay of more than ten pounds of plutonium-238 into a steady flow of electricity. It will produce about 110 watts at the start of Perseverance’s mission, then decrease only a few percentage points per year.

The MMRTG also charges two lithium-ion batteries, which are used during daily operations and when demand temporarily exceeds the usual electrical output levels. This is especially necessary during Perseverance’s groundbreaking drilling, soil sampling and collection operations, which can demand up to 900 watts.

In addition to powering Perseverance, the MMRTG performs another useful function: its excess heat will keep the rover’s myriad tools and systems at tolerable operating temperatures. While imperfect, it’s a decided step up from having a mission be imperiled by inclement weather.

4 The Next Step Toward Manned Missions: Oxygen Creation

Besides its search for ancient life, perhaps Perseverance’s most significant task is its efforts to prepare for human exploration of Mars. On that front, the mission’s most ambitious initiative is the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, better known as MOXIE.

MOXIE’s mission is to demonstrate how astronauts might one day produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. The 37-pound, car battery-sized MOXIE makes oxygen much like a tree does: it “inhales” carbon dioxide (Mars’ atmosphere is about 96% carbon dioxide) and “exhales” oxygen. This oxygen would be necessary not only for (of course) breathing, but also as a propellant, since any manned mission would need a means of rocketing off the red planet to return to Earth.

A nod to conserving Perseverance’s limited power supply for other efforts, its goals are fairly modest: MOXIE will conduct hour-long sessions intermittently, attempting to produce about 10 grams – or 0.022 lbs – of oxygen per experiment.

To put that in perspective, to launch off Mars, human explorers would need 33 to 50 tons of fuel, about the weight of a space shuttle. Scientists think that any system capable of providing a significant portion of such oxygen would need to be at least 100 times larger than MOXIE, which is essentially its own miniature gas factory.

3 What’s Old Is New

Somewhat ironically, some aspects of the most expensive, sophisticated rover ever constructed rely on technology from the 1990s.

For example, Perseverance features a radiation-hardened version of an IBM PowerPC microprocessor called the RAD750. Originally designed by Motorola and IBM, it is primarily used in satellites and avionics – and basically has the power of a circa-1992 Pentium 1 chip. The system is responsible for handling the entire avionics architecture of the rover designed and programmed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Why this seemingly antiquated technology? Because it’s battle-tested.

“The closer you pack your transistors, the more susceptible to radiation you get,” said Richard Rieber, a JPL mobility flight systems engineer. “With space hardware, you need high reliability, and the RAD750 has had a couple of hundred missions in space.”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—especially when building an unprecedented vehicle with countless other issues to address. The old school RAD750 computer works in tandem with a series of field programmable gate array (FPGA) computers to control the rover’s drivetrain, wheels, suspension and cameras.

One FPGA, a Virtex-5, is also a bit technologically dated – but trustworthy enough to have drawn a mission-critical straw: the module assisted in Perseverance’s successful atmospheric entry, descent and landing. Now that Perseverance is on the ground, this computer system will be reprogrammed from Earth to perform mobility visual processing.

2 Sending Mementos to Mars

For decades, NASA has engaged in festooning – adding fun extras to spacecraft and rovers launched into the heavens. Perseverance is no exception.

For starters, the rover carries three microchips with nearly 11 million names, part of NASA’s uncreatively-dubbed “Send Your Name To Mars” campaign. This represents a ninefold increase from the last rover, Curiosity, which took about 1.2 million Earth names to the red planet. Perseverance also brought a tribute to the healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic, as its July 2020 launch occurred a few months after the crisis’ inception.

Other accessories are part functional, part fun. For example, Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z is a zoomable panoramic camera that also carries a greeting to potential non-Earthlings. It reads: “Are we alone? We came here to look for signs of life, and to collect samples of Mars for study on Earth. To those who follow, we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery.”

Perhaps the coolest of Perseverance’s extravagances is a special coin made from astronaut helmet-visor materials – a nod to geocaching, the nerdgasmic practice of using GPS to hide and find buried treasure. The coin is part of the calibration target for the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument, and is etched with the address of its narrative namesake: 221b Baker Street, London, England.

1 A Very Special Delivery

Hopefully, Perseverance will save its most significant gift to mankind for last: a decade from now, the goal is to have soil samples taken by the rover arrive back on Earth. The ambitious plan, known as Mars Sample Return, involves three missions over the coming ten years.

Like its predecessor, Curiosity, Perseverance features an on-board laboratory. But unlike its forebears, Perseverance is equipped with a sophisticated sampling system that captures and packs Martian rocks and soil for an unprecedented journey back to Earth.

For the next two years, Perseverance will obtain samples using a drill bit that cuts cylindrical cores into the surface, gathering a cross-section of soil. The deeper the sample, the further back in time it represents – just like Earth.

After collecting and sealing about 40 core samples, Perseverance will do something strange: set them down and roll away. Later in the decade, a joint NASA-European Space Agency mission will launch the aptly named Sample Retriever Lander to fetch Perseverance’s goodies. The vehicle will grab the samples, pack it into a rocket and blast it into the heavens – the first launch ever attempted from another planet.

The rocket will then drop its basketball-sized package into orbit around the red planet. Completing the interplanetary relay race, the massive Earth Return Orbiter, which is as large as an airplane, will snatch the samples from Mars’ orbit and carry them back to Earth. The delivery may very well contain signs of ancient alien life, marking the most incredible accomplishment in space exploration to date.