Perseverance Rover’s View Up Crater

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z instrument to capture this view looking south toward the rim of Jezero Crater. The panorama, which encompasses 80 degrees, is made up of 59 individual images. They were captured on Aug. 4, 2024, the 1,229th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, and stitched together after being sent back to Earth. The color has been enhanced to bring out subtle details.

“Dox Castle,” a region the Perseverance science team wants to visit during the rover’s climb up the crater rim, is about a half-mile (740 meters) away, on the left side of the hill at right. After the exploration of Dox Castle is complete, the rover will continue its climb up the crater rim, taking a route in between the two hills.

Figure A is a natural color version of the mosaic.

Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

For more about Perseverance: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/