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Rocky red sand, dust, and an out-of-this-world landing – that’s what NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured on Mars so far.
Nearly 5,000 photos of Mars have been uploaded to the NASA website. The images are from the rover, nicknamed “Percy,” which landed on the planet on Friday (New Zealand time).
The first images of the Jezero crater were sent back to Earth shortly after the rover landed, and thousands of images of rocks, planet dust, and the incredible landing itself have since been shared.
NASA has also released a video of the moment the Perseverance rover landed on Mars.
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NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Rover Up-Look camera. This camera is mounted on the top of the rover and looks towards the descent stage.
The rover has 23 cameras, which also include zoom and color functions, CNN reported.
In a statement to the media, NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk said the rover was “just getting started.”
Perseverance “has already provided some of the most iconic images in the history of space exploration. It reinforces the remarkable level of engineering and precision that is required to build and fly a vehicle to the Red Planet ”.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its integrated left navigation camera (Navcam). The camera is located high on the rover’s mast and helps with driving.
The rover also bears the names of nearly 11 million people from Earth. A NASA statement explained that its “send your name to Mars” campaign invited people from all over the world to submit their name to travel in the vehicle.
NASA engineers etched the names onto three fingernail-sized chips aboard the rover using a beam of electrons. The “E-beam” machine used allows the writing of very small features, less than 1 micron, much less than the width of a human hair, NASA said.
Here are some of the images taken of Mars so far:
NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high up on the rover’s mast.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Left Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high up on the rover’s mast.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its integrated right navigation camera (Navcam). The camera is located high on the mast of the rover and aids in driving.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image during its descent to Mars, using its camera A to parachute upward. This camera is mounted on the rear shell of the spacecraft and looks into the parachute.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Rover Down-Look camera. This camera is mounted on the bottom of the rover and faces the surface.
