Faced with weeks of driving across treacherous rocks or a shortcut across a potential sand trap, Perseverance broke on through the sand and found an island littered with rocks like none ever seen before on Mars....
R-MastCam-Z, zoomed at 63mm, acquired on sol 1152 after a drive to site 52.4312. The map has not been updated yet, nor has the JSON drive data been released (probably because of the holiday in the US), but it looks like a long drive.
This photo was selected by public vote and featured as “Image of the Week” for Week 171 (May 19 - 25, 2024) of the Perseverance rover mission on Mars. NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast. This image was...
Episode 164 - Soft Martian sand has turned back one rover, trapped another, and killed a third. Now Perseverance has the option to drive through large sand ripples or across treacherous rocks to reach its next science target. So which is the better choice?
MastCam-Z full zoom sol 1152 - Looking down Neretva Vallis along the shore of the now sand filled ancient river channel. (heavily processed as the raw was overexposed) Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Mars Guy - Episode 163 Mars has some of the biggest landslides in the Solar System, like the ones inside Valles Marineris. But not all mass movements are so massive. This week, Perseverance unintentionally generated what may be one of the smallest ones.
Perseverance Mars rover used its abrasion tool to grind down the rock surface at this target on May 16, 2024, the 1151st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The abraded patch is 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter. The rover abrades rocks using a tool on its robotic arm to clear away dust and weathering rinds, allowing other...