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 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 ›
October 03, 2023
Journey to Jurabi Point
Journey to Jurabi Point
Perseverance's Future Destination: This is an orbital view of the rover's location in relation to "Jurabi Point" which is the next stop in the Margin Campaign. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. View Interactive Map
The Perseverance rover is always on the move! With our first core sample of the margin unit in hand, we’re already plotting course to our next stop in the Margin Campaign. One of our future destinations is a location named “Jurabi Point” that the team’s scientists have been eagerly waiting to explore even since before landing.
First though, we’re wrapping up investigation at our current work...
August 08, 2023
The Dragon’s Egg Too Tough To Crack
The Dragon’s Egg Too Tough To Crack
Boulders Ahead: Perseverance looks out over a field of boulders, snapping this image with its Left Mastcam on Sol 868 (July 30, 2023).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU.
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Perseverance spent this week on Mars roving across the top of the Jezero fan- from Mount Meeker to Dream Lake- in search of yet another sample for return to Earth. This upper region known as Lobe K is expected to contain some of the most recently deposited materials within the delta sequence, providing the opportunity to place both upper and lower bounds on the timing of aqueous activity that b...
April 04, 2023
Scoping Out the Next Sampling Stop
Scoping Out the Next Sampling Stop
Looking Back on the Most Recent Core: This image was taken by the Front Right Hazard Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) on Sol 750 (March 31, 2023) and shows a pile of rock cuttings left behind after Perseverance acquired a core called Melyn.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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After spending over 700 sols (Martian days) exploring the crater floor and delta front, Perseverance is making tracks up the front of the Jezero fan, climbing across stratigraphic layers, up and out of the ancient Jezero lakebed. This ascent begins the extended portion of the Mars 2020 mission, where Perseverance will continue on to the rim of Jezero Crater and beyond, collecting samples along ...
November 03, 2022
Sealing Sample 14
Sealing Sample 14
CacheCam Image of Perseverance's 14th Sample of Martian Rock: These images show changes in the dust accumulation over the course of four days on the rim of the collection tube containing Perseverance’s 14th sample. The images were acquired on Oct. 22, Oct. 26, Oct. 28, and Oct. 31 by the rover’s Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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The team is making progress identifying and implementing a fix that will allow a seal to cap off the rover’s latest rock sample, which was collected at the base of Jezero’s delta from an outcrop called “Amalik.” The anomaly first appeared on Oct. 5 after the successful coring of the mission’s 14th sample, called “Mageik,” when the seal assigned to cap the rock-core-filled sample tube did not re...
August 19, 2022
Ingenuity Team Spun Up for Upcoming Flight 30
Ingenuity Team Spun Up for Upcoming Flight 30
Ingenuity at Airfield D: This image of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument of the Perseverance rover on June 15, 2021, the 114th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS. Download image ›
It’s been over a month since we last updated our blog about our winter warrior, currently around 96 million miles away. At present the team is preparing for Ingenuity’s next flight, which could take place as early as this weekend. This 30th sortie will be a short hop – which will check out our system’s health after surviving 101 sols of winter, collect landing delivery data in support of NASA’s...
Mars Perseverance Sol 517 - WATSON Camera: NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm. This image was acquired on Aug. 4, 2022 (Sol 517). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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Images and data downlinked Thursday from Perseverance show that we’ve successfully cored, sealed, and stored our 12th sample of the mission. As the team always does, images of several sample collection system components were taken after completion of the coring activity. In those images, two small pieces of debris were visible – a small object on the coring bit (stored in the bit carousel) and ...
July 07, 2022
Searching for Sand Transport
Searching for Sand Transport
Mars Perseverance Sol 488 - Right Mastcam-Z Camera: Sand ripples imaged with Mastcam-Z on sol 488. These ripples will be reimaged for change detection while the rover is parked here at Skinner Ridge rock.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU. Download image ›Perseverance is currently stopped for sampling at Skinner Ridge rock. Sampling activities constitute an important aspect of Perseverance’s mission, and the rover’s strategic path is developed around sampling stops. During these stops, the rover must remain stationary for at least twelve sols in order to conduct proximity science and activities related to abrasion and coring. But being parked in...
May 16, 2022
Next Stop: Hawksbill Gap
Next Stop: Hawksbill Gap
An afternoon on Mars: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to acquire this image after driving on sol 428. The view is behind the rover towards the south, and the edge of the Kodiak mound is visible on the left side of the image.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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Perseverance was on the move this past week after finishing up remote science activities at Enchanted Lake, an exposure of finely layered rocks that may represent some of the lowest deposits of the delta. The rover threaded its way east around large sandy dune ripples before heading north enroute to Hawksbill Gap, where the team hopes to collect our first set of delta samples and eventually asc...
October 21, 2021
Threading a Needle on Mars
Threading a Needle on Mars
Abrasion Patch on 'Rochette': NASA's Perseverance rover took this image of the Martian rock nicknamed "Rochette" on Aug. 27, 2021, shortly after it abraded a circular patch known as "Bellegarde."
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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During the solar conjunction period, the project’s science and engineering teams have had time to digest the data from Perseverance collected since the rover landed in Jezero crater. While taking a step back from the normal routines of operating the rover and its fine set of instruments, we had the chance to reflect on what the rover and its team has accomplished.
Perseverance and its team h...
About This Blog
These blog updates are provided by the teams working on Mars missions.
Dates of planned test activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays, orbiter, helicopter and/or rover status.
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Contributors+
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Deputy Program Scientist, NASA HQ -
Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Student Collaborator on PIXL, University of Washington -
Ph.D. Student, University of the Basque Country -
Ph.D. Student, Purdue University -
Sampling Operations Deputy Lead, NASA/JPL -
Student Collaborator on Mastcam-Z, Western Washington University -
Ingenuity Operations Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project, NASA/JPL -
Student Collaborator, Purdue University -
Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research -
Media Representative, NASA/JPL -
Co-Investigator, PIXL Instrument, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) -
Student Collaborator, University of Florida -
Ph.D. Student, Rice University -
Student Collaborator, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa -
Ph.D. Student, University of California, Los Angeles -
Student Collaborator, McGill University -
MOXIE Science Team Member, Lunar Outpost -
Mapping Specialist, NASA/JPL -
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot, NASA/JPL -
Sampling Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Ingenuity Chief Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Project Manager, NASA/JPL -
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mechanical Engineering Lead, NASA/JPL -
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Operations Lead, NASA/JPL -
Imaging Scientist and Mastcam-Z Deputy Principal Investigator, NASA/JPL -
Deputy Project Scientist, NASA/JPL -
Project Scientist, Caltech -
Chief Engineer for Sampling & Caching, NASA/JPL -
Student Collaborator, University of Florida -
Planetary Scientist, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum -
Ingenuity Pilot, NASA/JPL -
Vehicle Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
SuperCam/ChemCam Engineer, Los Alamos National Laboratory -
Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Principal Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology -
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager, NASA/JPL -
Vehicle Systems Engineer Lead, NASA/JPL -
Mars 2020 Student Collaborator, University of Florida -
Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL -
Principal Investigator, SuperCam / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument, Purdue University -
Assistant Science Manager, NASA/JPL -
Docking Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
SuperCam, PhD Student, Purdue University -
Perseverance Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL -
Ingenuity Team Lead, NASA/JPL -
Robotic Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL -
Chief Engineer Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, NASA/JPL -
Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations, NASA/JPL -
Science Operations Systems Engineer, Staff Scientist, NASA/JPL
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