Perseverance Captures ‘Bright Angel’ in 360 Degrees

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z instrument to capture this 360-degree view of a region on Mars called “Bright Angel,” where an ancient river flowed billions of years ago. The panorama was captured on June 12, 2024, the 1,178th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, and is made up of 346 individual images that were stitched together after being sent back to Earth. The color has been enhanced to bring out subtle details.

It was not far from here that the rover took a sample at a rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls,” finding one of the most exciting discoveries of the mission thus far. Cheyava Falls is slightly right of center, about 361 feet (110 meters) from the rover.

Also visible is Perseverance itself, though not all of the rover was imaged in this panorama. The rover’s mast, or “head,” is visible in silhouette at bottom center.

Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is also characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, which paves the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/