In the days following Perseverance's Mars touch-down, NASA's latest rover has been busy sending images back to Earth. Perseverancewill look for signs of past microbial life and provide important information that will help scientists prepare for future human exploration on the Red Planet.
Here are some of the latest images beamed back from the Martian surface
A Slow Descent
This high-resolution still image is part of a video taken by several cameras as NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars on 18 February 2021. A camera aboard the descent stage captured this shot. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Eagle-eyed view of Perseverance
The descent stage holding NASA’s Perseverance rover can be seen falling through the Martian atmosphere, as captured by the HiRISE camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
A successful landing
Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team watch in mission control as the first images arrive moments after the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars, Thursday, 18 February 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Six wheels on my wagon
This high-resolution image shows one of the six wheels aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, which landed on 18 February 2021. The image was taken by one of Perseverance’s colour Hazard Cameras (Hazcams). - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Crystal clear Mars
This is the first high-resolution, colour image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) on the underside of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover after its landing on 18 February 2021. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
In this handout image provided by NASA, an image shows the descent stage of the Perseverance rover as it falls through the Martian atmosphere, its parachute trailing behind. The image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. An ancient river delta, which is the target of the Perseverance mission, can be seen entering Jezero Crater from the left. - Getty Images/NASA
The landing site
The landing ellipse, measuring 7.7 kilometres by 6.6 kilometres, (4.8 miles by 4.1 miles) , places the rover at the site of an ancient river delta which could harbour signs of fossilised microbial life. The fan-like shape of the delta is visible in this image, as is the crater rim. The crater was once filled with a lake several hundred feet deep. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
A model mission
Strategic Mission Manager Pauline Hwang, gives remarks during a NASA Perseverance rover initial surface checkout briefing, Friday 19 February 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. - NASA/Getty Images
Panoramic vision of Mars
Panorama, taken on 20 February 2021, by the Navigation Cameras (or Navcams) aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Satellite Navigation as standard
The Navigation Cameras, or Navcams, aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this view of the rover’s deck on 20 February 2021. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
View from the Mastcam
Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
For the latest information about NASA's Mars mission, check out the Perseverance homepage here.
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
