NASA's Mars Perseverance rover sends new self-portrait from the red planet
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover sent a self-portrait back to the agency this week with a sweeping backdrop of the red planet.
NASA released the new snapshot from the Perseverance rover on Tuesday, which the science team said in a release was taken at a location its science team calls "Lac de Charmes."
The image was created with 61 separate photos, NASA said.
"...The selfie shows Perseverance training its mast on a rocky outcrop in the foreground after creating a circular abrasion patch, with the western rim of Jezero Crater stretching into the background," the space agency wrote. "During abrading, the rover grinds down a portion of the rock's surface, allowing the science team to analyze what's inside."
The selfie was captured on Monday, March 11, "during the rover's deepest push west beyond the crater."
The rover, which is nearing its 1,800th Martian day -- having landed on the planet on Feb. 18, 2021 -- has now taken six "selfies," according to NASA.
According to the agency, Perseverance "acquired the selfie ... using the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera mounted at the end of its robotic arm, which made 62 precision movements over approximately one hour to build the composite image."
"Perseverance is in its fifth science campaign, known as the Northern Rim Campaign, of its mission on the Red Planet," the agency said this week. "The Lac de Charmes region represents some of the most scientifically compelling terrain the rover has visited."
