From Mars: NASA rover Perseverance sends new selfie to Earth
The NASA rovers are now well practiced at photographing themselves. Perseverance has now sent a sixth self-portrait to Earth.
Perseverance's latest selfie
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has once again taken a selfie; the latest shows it in an area that the US space agency has named “Lac de Charmes.” The finished image was composed of 61 individual shots and shows the vehicle with its mast pointed at a rock outcrop. It had recently left a circular abrasion mark there, explain the officials. In the background, the western edge of the Jezero crater, where the rover originally landed, can be seen. From a scientific perspective, the terrain where it is currently traveling is the most interesting. The individual photos were taken on March 11, the rover's 1797th day on Mars.
A selfie without any help
NASA introduced the highly complex procedure for taking selfies with Perseverance's predecessor Curiosity. For this, the robotic arm is used, which is therefore not visible in the final shot. The two rovers take dozens of photos from different perspectives, but the lens always remains in the same position. These can then be assembled into selfies on the computer, giving the impression that they were taken from a certain distance by a second device. In total, the procedure for the latest selfie took about an hour, the team explains.
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Perseverance has been on Mars since February 2021 and has already covered 42 km. The rover is searching for traces of life in a former delta. It was accompanied for a long time by the small helicopter, Ingenuity. It was originally only supposed to prove that motorized flying devices could take off on Mars at all. But because it mastered this so well, it was allowed to explore the area afterward. Only after 72 flights in early 2024 did the tenacious flying device abruptly reach its end. Last fall, it was announced that Perseverance had found possible traces of microbiological life. However, a final judgment on the origin of the substances in question requires analysis on Earth. The outlook for that is currently bleak.
(mho)
