Perseverance Shows Off its Nameplates

Two name plates mounted on the Mars Perseverance rover’s robotic arm are visible in this composite image, made from photos taken by the rover’s left Navcam on Sol 12 of its mission (March 2, 2021). The rover’s name, “Perseverance,” is inscribed on the plate attached to its forearm, and the mission name, “Mars 2020,” is shown on its upper arm. Running vertically along the right side of the mission name plate is a string of 17 letters and numbers. These characters form a unique product identification number (PIN) similar to the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on vehicles on Earth, but signifying that this is an off-road vehicle. Issued in part by the Society of Automotive Engineers, a PIN or VIN number provides a unique vehicle identifier, while encoding information about the vehicle’s characteristics and manufacture. Perseverance’s PIN can be decoded to reveal clues about its destination, mission objective and power source.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.

For more information about the mission, go to: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.