After 72 flights and 17 kilometers flown, it is finally time for us to say goodbye to the Ingenuity helicopter. It was announced last week that Ingenuity’s mission is now coming to an end after it sustained damage to a rotor blade on its final flight. Ingenuity’s long and remarkably successful journey began three years ago on the floor of Jezero Crater and it will end in Neretva Vallis, a chann...
BLOGMARS PERSEVERANCE ROVER
Blog
February 08, 2024
Farewell to Our Flying Friend and Closing in on the Crater Rim
Farewell to Our Flying Friend and Closing in on the Crater Rim
Perseverance Spots Ingenuity at Its Final Airfield: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this mosaic showing the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at its final airfield on Feb. 4, 2024. The helicopter damaged its rotor blades during landing on its 72nd flight on Jan. 18, 2024. The Ingenuity team has nicknamed the spot where the helicopter completed its final flight “Valinor Hills” after the fictional location in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels, which include “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS.
Download image ›
February 01, 2024
Bright Rocks on the Horizon: An Exciting Glimpse of Uncharted Territory
Bright Rocks on the Horizon: An Exciting Glimpse of Uncharted Territory
Mars Perseverance Sol 1039 - Left Mastcam-Z Camera: Mastcam-Z image (Sol 1039, zcam03849) showing bright, light-toned outcrops near the Jezero Crater Rim (upper center) approximately 4 km away, with darker toned boulders in foreground (center).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU.
Download image ›
Perseverance is deep within the ongoing Margin Unit campaign, where orbital signatures of carbonate minerals appear strongest. After collection of a drilled rock core from the Margin Unit, followed by 20 Sols (Martian days) parked at our current workspace, Perseverance had ample time to explore the rocks adjacent to the rover and perform long distance multispectral imaging of the Jezero Crater ...
January 25, 2024
New Year, New Images from Mars!
New Year, New Images from Mars!
Mars Perseverance Sol 1029 - Left Mastcam-Z Camera: This image of the Minga natural surface proximity science target was acquired on January 11, 2024 (Sol 1029) at the local mean solar time of 11:48:35 using the Mastcam-Z instrument.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU.
Download image ›
Since parking at Airey Hill during Solar Conjunction back in November, Perseverance has been busy exploring. We drove north from Airey Hill to Flat Point, where we had the best views to conduct imaging using Mastcam-Z of some of the deepest parts of the Margin Unit. We then drove south-east, parallel to a ridge that shows apparent layering, and imaged targets including Burnt Island and Lily Bay...
December 20, 2023
An Ode to Perseverance and Ingenuity
An Ode to Perseverance and Ingenuity
Perseverance's Selfie with Ingenuity: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (3.9 meters) from the rover. This image was taken by the WATSON camera on the rover’s robotic arm on April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
Download image ›
In the vast expanse where dreams take flight,
A tale unfolds of courage and might.
Mars, the distant red planet's embrace,
Witnesses a duo, bound by space.
In the history of the cosmos, their story engraved,
Perseverance and Ingenuity, bold and brave.
Their legacy echoes, inspiring the souls,
To reach for the stars, to achieve their goals.
Perseverance, a wanderer on alien soil,
Un...
November 28, 2023
Was There Life on Mars?
Was There Life on Mars?
Mars Perseverance Sol 950 - Front Right Hazard Avoidance Camera: In this image acquired by the Front Hazard Avoidance Camera on Sol 950 (October 22, 2023), Perseverance looks down at an array of rocks in the Turquoise Bay workspace after drilling its 23rd core for future return to Earth.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Download image ›
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe, and searching for life on Mars is a major goal of the Mars 2020 mission. While humans have long wondered whether there are others like us, it’s only been a few decades since we’ve developed the technologies to search for life beyond Earth in earnest. With space-based telescopes like James Webb, astrono...
November 20, 2023
Perseverance’s Parking Spot
Perseverance’s Parking Spot
Mars Perseverance Sol 961 – Left Mastcam-Z Camera: Perseverance imaged this rock target, Barrabiddy, to investigate its emplacement and textures. This image prompted further analyses by the Science Team and captured the eyes of the public. Acquired on Nov. 3, 2023 (Sol 961). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU. Download image ›
The Science Team directed Perseverance to Airey Hill, the parking spot chosen for Solar Conjunction. Although there will be a pause on data during conjunction, team members still analyze all the images taken on the drive before Perseverance parked and data delivery was paused.
While all returned images and data are exciting, these post-drive images showed an interesting rock that stood out t...
November 13, 2023
Here Comes the Sun: Perseverance Readies for Solar Conjunction
Here Comes the Sun: Perseverance Readies for Solar Conjunction
Mars Perseverance Sol 963 – Left Navigation Camera: Perseverance’s view east of the early morning sun on Sol 963 (Nov. 4th, 2023) while surveying for clouds. Earth, about 235 million miles (378 million kilometers) away, will be obscured by the Sun for the next few weeks during a period called “solar conjunction.”
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›Perseverance wrapped up science activities this week as the team focused on getting the rover in position for solar conjunction, a few week period roughly every two Earth years when Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun. To avoid potential interference of radio signals by the Sun’s ionized gas, engineers do not actively command Mars spacecraft during this period and rather send up a l...
October 26, 2023
Estimating Depositional Timing Using Cosmogenic Radionuclide Dating
Estimating Depositional Timing Using Cosmogenic Radionuclide Dating
Mars Perseverance Sol 901 - Left Mastcam-Z Camera: NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Left Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast. This image was acquired on Sept. 2, 2023 (Sol 901).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU.
Download image ›
As Perseverance continues to wrap up its current activities at Turquoise Bay where it collected a new sample for possible return to Earth, the Mars 2020 team is getting ready for Perseverance to approach the next site in the Margin Unit campaign, a site called Jurabi Point, also known as the "gateway" to Gnaraloo Bay. Here Perseverance will encounter what is known as a "triple junction" between...
October 23, 2023
A Tale of Turquoise Bay: Sampling Unique Bedrock at the Margin Unit
A Tale of Turquoise Bay: Sampling Unique Bedrock at the Margin Unit
Mars Perseverance Sol 942 - Right Mastcam-Z Camera: Mastcam-Z image (Sol 942, zcam05068) of drilled rock core collected from Turquoise Bay bedrock at the Marginal Unit, Jezero Crater, Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU. Download image ›
The Mars 2020 team has been exploring a new area of the Margin Unit at Jezero Crater, where distinct carbonate signatures have been observed from orbit. Importantly, carbonates that form in rocks can store a record of the climate during formation, and they can also preserve biosignatures (residues of ancient life).
Perseverance is on its way to a particularly interesting region of the Margin...
October 12, 2023
Eclipse on Earth, Exploration on Mars
Eclipse on Earth, Exploration on Mars
Perseverance Rover Sees Solar Eclipse on Mars: A transit of Phobos captured by Mastcam-Z on April 1st, 2022 (Sol 397).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI. Download image ›On Saturday, October 14th, an annular eclipse will be visible across much of North, Central, and South America. Although Perseverance won't see this event from Mars, it’s no stranger to Martian eclipses.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are both significantly smaller than Earth's Moon. When directly overhead, Phobos appears about one-third the size of our full Moon, while Deimos ...
About This Blog
These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars 2020 mission team members who love to share what Perseverance is doing with the public.
Dates of planned rover activities described in these blogs are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Sign up to Mars Newsletter
Contributors+
-
Planetary Scientist, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Washington, DC -
SuperCam/ChemCam Engineer, Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory -
Docking Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Deputy Program Scientist, NASA HQ
Washington, DC -
Student Collaborator, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL -
Mapping Specialist, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
SuperCam, PhD Student, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN -
Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Project Scientist, Caltech
Pasadena, CA -
Mars 2020 Student Collaborator, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL -
Student Collaborator, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN -
Student Collaborator, McGill University
Montreal, Canada -
Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Principal Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Westford, MA -
Chief Engineer for Sampling & Caching, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Ph.D. Student, University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA -
Student Collaborator on Mastcam-Z, Western Washington University -
Student Collaborator, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL -
Ph.D. Student, Purdue University -
Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Perseverance Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Student Collaborator on PIXL, University of Washington -
Imaging Scientist and Mastcam-Z Deputy Principal Investigator, NASA/JPL -
MOXIE Science Team Member, Lunar Outpost -
Assistant Science Manager, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Ph.D. Student, Rice University
Houston, Texas -
Ph.D. Student, University of the Basque Country -
Vehicle Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research
Altadena, CA -
Sampling Operations Deputy Lead, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Vehicle Systems Engineer Lead, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Co-Investigator, PIXL Instrument, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Copenhagen, Denmark -
Student Collaborator, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Honolulu, HI -
Robotic Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Deputy Project Scientist, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Science Operations Systems Engineer, Staff Scientist, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Sampling Engineer, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Project Manager, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
Pasadena, CA -
Principal Investigator, SuperCam / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Tools on the Perseverance Rover+
The Perseverance rover has tools to study the history of its landing site, seek signs of ancient life, collect rock and soil samples, and help prepare for human exploration of Mars. The rover carries:
CAMERAS & SPECTROMETERS
- Mastcam-Z
- PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry)
- SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals)
- SuperCam
GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS
TECHNOLOGY DEMO
SAMPLE COLLECTION
Follow the Mission
