NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover: New April 2022 Images | JPL

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover: New April 2022 Images | JPL

After collecting eight rock-core samples from its first science campaign and completing a record-breaking, 31-Martian-day (or sol) dash across about 3 miles (5 kilometers) of Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover arrived at the doorstep of Jezero Crater’s ancient river delta April 13. Dubbed “Three Forks” by the Perseverance team (a reference to the spot where three route options to the delta merge), the location serves as the staging area for the rover’s second science expedition, the “Delta Front Campaign.”

“The delta at Jezero Crater promises to be a veritable geologic feast and one of the best locations on Mars to look for signs of past microscopic life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “The answers are out there—and Team Perseverance is ready to find them.”

The delta, a massive fan-shaped collection of rocks and sediment at the western edge of Jezero Crater, formed at the convergence of a Martian river and a crater lake billions of years ago. Its exploration tops the Perseverance science team’s wish list because all the fine-grained sediment deposited at its base long ago is the mission’s best bet for finding the preserved remnants of ancient microbial life.

Processed and de-fisheyed 16-tile navcam-left image from NASA's Perseverance rover from Sol 419 [2022-April-25] 

Captured at 14:29 local time in Jezero.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Del-4Ri

Mars2020 - Sol 415 - Mastcam-Z

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - Sol 3454 - MAHLI 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - Sol 3451 - MAHLI 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 417 - Mastcam-Z 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - Sol 3451 - MastCam 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers.

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more about Perseverance: nasa.gov/perseverance

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Caption Credit: NASA/JPL

Image Dates: April 23-26, 2022

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