Martian Ice Clouds | NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover

Martian Ice Clouds | NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover

If you could stand on Mars—what might you see? You might look out over a vast orange landscape covered with rocks under a dusty orange sky, with a blue-tinted Sun setting over the horizon, and odd-shaped water clouds hovering high overhead. This was just the view captured in March 2024 by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The orange coloring is caused by rusted iron in the Martian dirt. This dust can be swept up by winds into the atmosphere. The blue tint near the setting Sun is caused by blue light being preferentially scattered out from the Sun by the floating dust. The light-colored clouds on the right are likely composed of water-ice and appear high in the Martian atmosphere. The shapes of these clouds are unusual in comparison with Earth and remain a topic of research.

Celebrating 3+ Years on Mars

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 return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

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

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

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Kevin M. Gill
Processing: Rogelio Bernal Andreo
Release Date: Dec. 3, 2024

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