NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured a stunning 360-degree panoramic photo of the Jezero Crater on Mars, showcasing the planet’s vast terrain. The image, stitched together from 96 images taken by the rover’s Mastcam-Z camera, reveals the location “Falbreen,” where the rover has been exploring since landing on Mars in February 2021.
The clear Martian sky allows for a detailed view of the surrounding landscape, including rocks and sand ripples up to 65 km away. A large black rock, about 4.5 meters away from the rover, sits atop a dark sand ripple, forming a “float rock” that geologists believe formed elsewhere and was deposited to its current location.
The image also features an abrasion patch left by the rover’s drill and deceptively blue skies that are actually red due to the Martian atmosphere. This 43rd rock abrasion is part of the NASA Perseverance rover’s mission at Mars, which includes analyzing material just below the surface using a core sample drilling technique.
The science team is studying the Falbreen site because it may predate the Jezero Crater itself, making it potentially the oldest terrain explored by the Perseverance rover. The image also captures a boundary line between two geologic units, with near rocks rich in olivine and distant rocks believed to be much older clay-bearing rocks.
This stunning vista is just a glimpse of what NASA’s groundbreaking missions will soon witness with human eyes. As Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, stated: “Our bold push for human space exploration will send astronauts back to the Moon and eventually reach the Martian surface.”
Source: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/perseverance-takes-a-new-panoramic-image-of-mars-on-a-clear-day