PerseveranceRover

Linking Local Lithologies to a Larger Landscape

Linking Local Lithologies to a Larger Landscape The NASA Mars Perseverance rover is exploring a boundary visible from orbit that divides bright, fractured outcrop from darker, smoother regolith on Mars. The rover has encountered several olivine-bearing rocks while traversing the rim of Jezero crater, which may provide clues to their origins and help understand Mars’ […]

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Advances in NASA Imaging Changed How World Sees Mars

Advances in NASA Imaging Changed How World Sees Mars NASA’s Mariner 4 mission in 1965 captured the first-ever close-up image of Mars, leading to a steady stream of advances in camera technology. The Viking 1 orbiter in 1980 captured stunning images of Valles Marineris, the “Grand Canyon of Mars,” and paved the way for future […]

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Old Glory on the Red Planet

Old Glory on the Red Planet The United States flag has been planted on Mars as part of NASA’s Perseverance rover mission. The flag is attached to an aluminum plate mounted at the base of the rover’s mast, which was captured by the WATSON camera on June 28, 2025. The WATSON camera is part of […]

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Searching for Ancient Rocks in the ‘Forlandet’ Flats

Searching for Ancient Rocks in the ‘Forlandet’ Flats The NASA Perseverance rover has entered the “Forlandet” quadrangle, a flat terrain area outside Jezero Crater on Mars, where it will search for ancient rocks that could be among the oldest ever observed. The science team hopes to find rocks with olivine and carbonate formations, which could […]

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A Dust Devil Photobombs Perseverance!

A Dust Devil Photobombs Perseverance! The Perseverance rover on Mars recently took a selfie to celebrate its 1,500th Martian day, but it was photobombed by a dust devil! The dust devil, about 100 meters across, was captured by the WATSON camera on the end of the rover’s robotic arm for the first time. The rover had […]

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A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration

A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration Despite predictions made by Andy Weir’s bestselling novel “The Martian,” real-life Mars exploration has taken a different path than expected. While NASA plans to return humans to the Moon […]

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NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Studies Trove of Rocks on Crater Rim

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Studies Trove of Rocks on Crater Rim NASA’s Perseverance rover has been collecting and caching Martian rock samples from the Jezero crater, which will be returned to Earth for further analysis as part of NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program. The rover has discovered a serpentine-rich rock sample called “Tablelands” that contains […]

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