Eclipse observed on Mars.

NASA's Perseverance Rover has observed an eclipse from the surface of Mars, caused by the moon Phobos passing in front of the Sun. Phobos is significantly smaller than our Moon, only 17 km in diameter compared to 3475 km, but orbits much closer to Mars than the Moon does to Earth, an average of 9376 km compared to 384 400 km, which combined with the smaller apparent size of the Sun seen from Mars, which is roughly 1½ times as far from the Sun as the Earth is, means that eclipses are still an observable phenomenon. 

Solar eclipse on Mars, caused by the moon Phobos passing in front of the Sun, recorded by the Perseverance Rover. Images are at 10 second intervals, with the whole event lasting much less time than an eclipse on Earth, due to the closer orbit of Phobos, and the correspondingly higher speed of the Martian moon, which takes only 7.6 hours to orbit the planet. NASA.

The eclipse, which occurred on 30 September 2024, was the second such eclipse observed by Perseverance this year, with the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers also having Martian eclipses. These eclipses are common because, unlike that of our Moon, the orbit of Phobos has very little tilt, effectively remaining above the planet's equator at all times.

An eclipse caused by the passage of Phobos in front of the Sun recorded by the Perseverance Rover on 8 February 2024. NASA.

Mars's second moon, Deimos, does not cause such obvious eclipses, as it is only 6.2 km in diameter, and orbits at an altitude of 23 460 km, making it almost invisible from the planet's surface.

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Dust devil observed from the surface of Mars.

NASA's  Perseverance Rover has observed and recorded an dust devil from the surface of Mars. These storms are well recorded from space-based observations made by satellites orbiting Mars, but ground-based observations are much rarer, in part because rovers on Mars are usually closed down when dust storms approach them, to prevent them from being damaged.

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this Martian dust devil moving east to west at a speed of about 19 kmph along Thorofare Ridge on  30 August 2023. The video has been sped up 20 times, is composed of 21 frames taken four seconds apart, and has been digitally enhanced in order to show maximal detail. NASA/JPL/Caltech.

Dust devils are a phenomenom known on Earth as well as Mars, although the lower gravity and thinner atmosphere of Mars means that the Martian devils tend to be both taller and slower moving than their Earthly equivalents. This storm was about 4 km away from the rover when it was observed, and was moving along a portion of the western rim of Jezero Crater known as Thorofare Ridge at a speed of about 19 kmph. The storm of the dust devil is not visible, but based upon its shadow, it is estimated to have been about 2 km high, with the basal portion being about 60 m wide.

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Perseverance Rover begins driving across Mars.

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover performed its first drive on Mars 4 March, covering 6.5 meters across the Martian landscape, according to a press release. The drive served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members check out and calibrate every system, subsystem, and instrument on Perseverance. Once the rover begins pursuing its science goals, regular commutes extending 200 meters or more are expected.

 

This image was captured while NASA’s Perseverance rover drove on Mars for the first time on 4 March 2021. One of Perseverance’s Hazard Avoidance Cameras captured this image as the rover completed a short traverse and turn from its landing site in Jezero Crater. NASA/JPL/Caltech.

'When it comes to wheeled vehicles on other planets, there are few first-time events that measure up in significance to that of the first drive,' said Anais Zarifian, Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mobility test bed engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 'This was our first chance to ‘kick the tires’ and take Perseverance out for a spin. The rover’s six-wheel drive responded superbly. We are now confident our drive system is good to go, capable of taking us wherever the science leads us over the next two years.'

The drive, which lasted about 33 minutes, propelled the rover forward 4 meters, where it then turned in place 150 degrees to the left and backed up 2.5 meters into its new temporary parking space. To help better understand the dynamics of a retrorocket landing on the Red Planet, engineers used Perseverance’s Navigation and Hazard Avoidance Cameras to image the spot where Perseverance touched down, dispersing Martian dust with plumes from its engines.

The rover’s mobility system is not the only thing getting a test drive during this period of initial checkouts. On 26 February Perseverance’s eighth Martian day, or sol, since landing, mission controllers completed a software update, replacing the computer program that helped land Perseverance with one they will rely on to investigate the planet.

More recently, the controllers checked out Perseverance’s Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) and Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instruments, and deployed the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument’s two wind sensors, which extend out from the rover’s mast. Another significant milestone occurred on March 2, or sol 12, when engineers unstowed the rover’s 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm for the first time, flexing each of its five joints over the course of two hours.

'Tuesday’s first test of the robotic arm was a big moment for us,' said Robert Hogg, Mars 2020 Perseverance rover deputy mission manager. 'That’s the main tool the science team will use to do close-up examination of the geologic features of Jezero Crater, and then we’ll drill and sample the ones they find the most interesting. When we got confirmation of the robotic arm flexing its muscles, including images of it working beautifully after its long trip to Mars, well, it made my day.'

Upcoming events and evaluations include more detailed testing and calibration of science instruments, sending the rover on longer drives, and jettisoning covers that shield both the adaptive caching assembly (part of the rover’s Sample Caching System) and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during landing. The experimental flight test program for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will also take place during the rover’s commissioning.

Through it all, the rover is sending down images from the most advanced suite of cameras ever to travel to Mars. The mission’s cameras have already sent about 7000 images. On Earth, Perseverance’s imagery flows through the powerful Deep Space Network, managed by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program. In space, several Mars orbiters play an equally important role.

'Orbiter support for downlink of data has been a real gamechanger,' said Justin Maki, chief engineer for imaging and the imaging scientist for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. 'When you see a beautiful image from Jezero, consider that it took a whole team of Martians to get it to you. Every picture from Perseverance is relayed by either the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter, or NASA’s MAVEN, Mars Odyssey, or Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They are important partners in our explorations and our discoveries.'

The sheer volume of imagery and data already coming down on this mission has been a welcome bounty for Matt Wallace, who recalls waiting anxiously for the first images to trickle in during NASA’s first Mars rover mission, Sojourner, which explored Mars in 1997. On 3 March, Wallace became the mission’s new project manager. He replaced John McNamee, who is stepping down as he intended, after helming the project for nearly a decade.

'John has provided unwavering support to me and every member of the project for over a decade,' said Wallace. 'He has left his mark on this mission and team, and it has been my privilege to not only call him boss but also my friend.'

With Perseverance departing from its touchdown site, mission team scientists have memorialised the spot, informally naming it for the late science fiction author Octavia E. Butler. The groundbreaking author and Pasadena, California, native was the first African American woman to win both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award, and she was the first science fiction writer honored with a MacArthur Fellowship. The location where Perseverance began its mission on Mars now bears the name 'Octavia E. Butler Landing.'

Official scientific names for places and objects throughout the solar system, including asteroids, comets, and locations on planets, are designated by the International Astronomical Union. Scientists working with NASA’s Mars rovers have traditionally given unofficial nicknames to various geological features, which they can use as references in scientific papers.

'Butler’s protagonists embody determination and inventiveness, making her a perfect fit for the Perseverance rover mission and its theme of overcoming challenges,' said Kathryn Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for Perseverance. 'Butler inspired and influenced the planetary science community and many beyond, including those typically under-represented in STEM fields.'

'I can think of no better person to mark this historic landing site than Octavia E. Butler, who not only grew up next door to JPL in Pasadena, but she also inspired millions with her visions of a science-based future,' said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science. 'Her guiding principle, ‘When using science, do so accurately,’ is what the science team at NASA is all about. Her work continues to inspire today’s scientists and engineers across the globe, all in the name of a bolder, more equitable future for all.'

Butler, who died in 2006, authored such notable works as Kindred, Bloodchild, Speech Sounds, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, and the Patternist series. Her writing explores themes of race, gender, equality, and humanity, and her works are as relevant today as they were when originally written and published.

A key objective of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient Microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for Human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with thw European Space Agency, would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for Human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

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ExoMars Orbiter images the Perseverance Lander.

The European Space Agency/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has spotted NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, along with its parachute, heat shield and descent stage, in the Jezero Crater region of Mars, according to a press release issued on 25 February 2021. The images were captured with the orbiter’s CaSSIS camera on 23 February. The components are seen as dark or bright pixels in the images. 

 

ExoMars image of the Perseverance landing site. European Space Agency.

The rover landed on Mars on 18 February 2021, and was first identified in images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Perseverance will explore the Jezero Crater region of Mars, which is thought to have once hosted a lake, searching for signs of past microbial life. It will collect and cache samples of martian rocks and soil for subsequent missions to collect and return to Earth as part of the joint European Space Agency-NASA Mars Sample Return campaign.

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter provided significant data relay services around the landing of Perseverance, including supporting the return of the videos and imagery taken by the mission’s onboard cameras during the descent of the rover to the surface of Mars. The orbiter will continue to provide data relay support between Earth and Mars for NASA’s surface missions, and for the next ExoMars mission, which will see the European Rosalind Franklin rover and Russian Kazachok surface platform arrive at the Red Planet in 2023. At the same time, the Trace Gas Orbiter continues its own science mission, focusing on analysing the planet’s atmosphere with a special emphasis on searching for gases that may be linked to active geological or biological processes.

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NASA’s Perseverance Rover sends back its first images of Mars.

Less than a day after NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars, engineers and scientists at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were hard at work, awaiting the next transmissions from Perseverance. As data gradually came in, relayed by several spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet, the Perseverance team were relieved to see the rover’s health reports, which showed everything appeared to be working as expected, according to a press release issued by NASA on 19 February 2021.

 

This high-resolution still image is part of a video taken by several cameras as NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars on 18 February 2021. A camera aboard the descent stage captured this shot. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterise the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers. NASA/JPL/Caltech.

Adding to the excitement was a high-resolution image taken during the rover’s landing. While NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover sent back a stop-motion movie of its descent, Perseverance’s cameras are intended to capture video of its touchdown and this new still image was taken from that footage, which is still being relayed to Earth and processed.

 

The Curiosity Mars Descent Imager captured the rover's descent to the surface of the Red Planet. The instrument shot 4 fps video from heatshield separation to the ground. NASA/JPL.

Unlike with past rovers, the majority of Perseverance’s cameras capture images in colour. After landing, two of the Hazard Cameras captured views from the front and rear of the rover, showing one of its wheels in the Martian dirt. Perseverance got a close-up from NASA’s eye in the sky, as well: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance. Orbiter, which used a special high-resolution camera to capture the spacecraft sailing into Jezero Crater, with its parachute trailing behind. The High Resolution Camera Experiment camera did the same for Curiosity in 2012. JPL leads the orbiter’s mission, while the High Resolution Camera Experiment instrument is led by the University of Arizona.

Several pyrotechnic charges are expected to fire later on Friday, releasing Perseverance’s mast (the 'head' of the rover) from where it is fixed on the rover’s deck. The Navigation Cameras, which are used for driving, share space on the mast with two science cameras: the zoomable Mastcam-Z and a laser instrument called SuperCam. The mast is scheduled to be raised Saturday, 20 February, after which the Navcams are expected to take panoramas of the rover’s deck and its surroundings.

In the days to come, engineers will pore over the rover’s system data, updating its software and beginning to test its various instruments. In the following weeks, Perseverance will test its robotic arm and take its first, short drive. It will be at least one or two months until Perseverance will find a flat location to drop off Ingenuity, the mini-helicopter attached to the rover’s belly, and even longer before it finally hits the road, beginning its science mission and searching for its first sample of Martian rock and sediment.

A primary objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology research, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, will send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter technology demonstration for NASA.

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Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter successfully launched.

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter were launched successfully from the  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, at 7.50 am local time (11.50 am GMT) on Thursday 30 July 2020. Perseverance lifted off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41, and is due to land in the Jezero Crater on the western edge of Isidis Planitia, a giant impact basin just north of the Martian equator, on 18 February 2020. This is a seven month journey that was made possible by an alignment of Earth and Mars. Only a short launch window was available that could have taken advantage of this alignment, so that if the rover had not been launched by 15 August 2020 a much longer journey would have been needed.

 A  United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket taking off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on 30 July 2020, carrying NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter on the first leg of their trip to Mars. Kim Shiflett/NASA.

Jezero Crater is a 45 km wide crater that was once home to an ancient river delta, which could have collected and preserved ancient organic molecules and other potential signs of microbial life from the water and sediments that flowed into the crater billions of years ago. This  ancient lake-delta system offers many promising sampling targets of at least five different kinds of rock, including clays and carbonates that have high potential to preserve signatures of past life. In addition, the material carried into the delta from a large watershed may contain a wide variety of minerals from inside and outside the crater. Along with the massive nearby river delta and small crater impacts, the site contains numerous boulders and rocks to the east, cliffs to the west, and depressions filled with aeolian bedforms (wind-derived ripples in sand that could trap a rover) in several locations.

The Jezero Crater Delta on Mars, with water carved channels and transported sediments. Examination of spectral data acquired from orbit show that some of these sediments have minerals that indicate chemical alteration by water. Image combines information from two instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and the Context Camera. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Malin Space Science Systems/Brown University.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The rover has a drill to collect core samples of Martian rock and soil, then store them in sealed tubes for pickup by a future mission that would ferry them back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perseverance will also test technologies to help pave the way for future Human exploration of Mars.

There are several ways that the mission helps pave the way for future human expeditions to Mars and demonstrates technologies that may be used in those endeavors. These include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.

Artist's impression of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover on Mars. NASA.

The mission uses technological innovations already demonstrated successfully, especially for entry, descent, and landing. Like NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, the Mars 2020 spacecraft uses a guided entry, descent, and landing system. The landing system on the Mars 2020 mission, as with Curiosity, includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a 'sky crane maneuver' for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.

The Perseverance rover design minimizes costs and risks because it is largely based on the engineering design for the previous Curiosity rover. The Perseverance long-range mobility system allows it to travel on the surface of Mars over 5 to 20 kilometers. Improvements on Perseverance include a new, more capable wheel design. And for the first time, the rover carries a drill for coring samples from Martian rocks and soil. It gathers and stores the cores in tubes on the Martian surface, using 'depot caching'. Caching demonstrates a new rover capability of gathering, storing, and preserving samples. This could potentially pave the way for future missions to retrieve the samples and ferry them to Earth for intensive laboratory analysis.

Perseverance will test a technology for extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, which is 96% carbon dioxide. This demonstration helps mission planners test ways of using Mars' natural resources to support Human explorers and improve designs for life support, transportation, and other important systems for living and working on Mars. The rover also monitors weather and dust in the Martian atmosphere. Such studies are important for understanding daily and seasonal changes on Mars, and will help future human explorers better predict Martian weather.

The Ingenuity Helicopter will hitch a ride on the Perseverance Rover's belly, covered by a shield to protect it during the descent and landing. Once at a suitable spot on Mars, the shield covering beneath the rover will drop. Then, the team will release the helicopter in several steps to get it safely onto the surface. This will be the first test of powered flight on another planet.

Animation showing Mars Helicopter on the Red Planet, February 2021. NASA.

The helicopter may fly for up to 90 seconds, to distances of almost 300 meters at a time and about 3-5 m from the ground. That's no small feat compared to the first 12-second flight of the Wright Brothers' airplane. The helicopter is designed to fly on its own, without human control. It must take off, fly, and land, with minimal commands from Earth sent in advance.

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