NASA on Tuesday released 6 selfies taken by the Perseverance rover while working on Mars. According to the post, the robot is seen next to the rock dubbed Chiava Falls, which it is studying.
The structure is believed to “likely contain fossilized Martian microbes.” In the future, scientists hope to bring samples back to Earth, where they can analyze the rocks in greater depth.
They have features that resemble what microbes left behind when this area was warm and wet billions of years ago. They were part of an ancient river delta. These rocks may hold important clues to discovering whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.
“To the left of the rover, near the center of the image, is the arrowhead-shaped rock nicknamed Chiava Falls, which contains features that may hold clues to whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past,” NASA said.
The small dark hole in the rock is where Perseverance collected a sample, which is now in a sample tube stored inside the rover.
“The white patch to the right of the crater is where the rover used a scraper to clean the upper surface, allowing scientific instruments to study the rock composition,” the post explains.
Three feet by two feet and named after the Grand Canyon waterfall, Chiava Falls is located on the northern edge of an ancient river valley carved by water flowing into Jezero Crater long ago.
The image of Perseverance next to the rock was taken on July 23, the 1,218th day of the mission on Mars, according to NASA.
According to the agency, the selfie is made up of 62 images taken by the Wide-Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and Electronics (Watson) camera, located on the tip of the rover’s robotic arm. “The images were stitched together after being returned to Earth.”
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