NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Selfie and Panorama in Mars' Lac de Charmes
NASA's Perseverance rover recently snapped a selfie on Mars, highlighting the 'Lac de Charmes' area, which is considered vital for research. This selfie was pieced together from 61 individual shots, showing the rover's mast aimed at a rocky formation after it created a circular scratch. The photo was captured on March 11 during the rover's longest trek westward from Jezero Crater since landing in 2021. Using its WATSON camera, Perseverance made 62 precise adjustments over about an hour. On April 5 (Sol 1882), it also generated a mosaic of the 'Arbot' region from 46 images, showcasing a landscape shaped by wind and ancient meteorite impacts. Project scientist Katie Stack Morgan referred to this area as the 'Wild West' beyond Jezero.
Key facts
- Perseverance sent a selfie from Mars' Lac de Charmes region.
- The selfie was assembled from 61 individual images.
- It was captured on March 11 during the rover's farthest push west beyond Jezero Crater.
- The WATSON camera made 62 precision movements over about one hour.
- A mosaic of the 'Arbot' area was captured on April 5 (Sol 1882) from 46 images.
- The panorama shows megabreccia from a meteorite impact around 3.9 billion years ago.
- Katie Stack Morgan is Perseverance's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- Ken Farley is deputy project scientist at Caltech.
Entities
Institutions
- NASA
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Caltech
Locations
- Mars
- Lac de Charmes
- Jezero Crater
- Isidis Planitia
- Southern California
- Pasadena