NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

Engineers at JPL are certifying the Perseverance rover to drive up to 100 kilometers.

The inactive aeolian megaripple, “Hazyview,” that Perseverance studied while passing through the “Honeyguide” area. NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image on Dec. 5, 2025 (Sol 1704) at the local mean solar time of 12:33:53, using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam). The camera is located high on the rover's mast and aids in driving. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Noah Martin, Ph.D. student and Candice Bedford, Research Scientist at Purdue University

While much of Perseverance’s work focuses on ancient rocks that record Mars’ long-lost rivers and lakes, megaripples offer a rare opportunity to examine processes that are still shaping the surface today. Megaripples are sand ripples up to 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) tall that are mainly built and modified by wind. However, when water in the atmosphere interacts with dust on the ripple surface, a salty, dusty crust can form. When this happens, it is much harder for the wind to move or shape the megaripple. As such, megaripples on Mars are largely considered inactive, standing as records of past wind regimes and atmospheric water interactions over time. However, some have shown signs of movement, and it is possible that periods of high wind speeds may erode or reactivate these deposits again.

Despite Mars’ thin atmosphere today (2% of the Earth’s atmospheric density), wind is one of the main drivers of change at the surface, eroding local bedrock into sand-sized grains and transporting these grains across the ripple field. As a result, megaripple studies help us understand how wind has shaped the surface in Mars’ most recent history and support planning for future human missions, as the chemistry and cohesion of Martian soils will influence everything from mobility to resource extraction.

Following the successful investigation of the dusty, inactive megaripples at “Kerrlaguna,” Perseverance recently explored a more expansive field of megaripples called “Honeyguide.” This region hosts some of the largest megaripples Perseverance has seen along its traverse so far, making it an ideal location for a comprehensive study of these features. The megaripples at “Honeyguide” rise higher, extend farther, and have sharply defined crests with more uniform orientation compared to those at “Kerrlaguna.” The consistent orientation of the megaripples at “Honeyguide” suggests that winds in this area have blown predominantly from the same direction (north-south) for a long period of time.

At “Honeyguide,” Perseverance studied the “Hazyview” megaripple, where over 50 observations were taken across the SuperCam, Mastcam-Z, MEDA, PIXL and WATSON instruments, looking for grain movement, signs of early morning frost, and changes in mineralogy from crest to trough. The investigation of the “Hazyview” bedform builds directly on the results from “Kerrlaguna” and represents the most detailed look yet at these intriguing wind-formed deposits. As Perseverance continues its journey on the crater rim, these observations will provide a valuable reference for interpreting other wind-blown features and for understanding how Mars continues to change, one grain of sand at a time.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this view of a location nicknamed “Mont Musard” on September 8, 2025.

Made up of three images, the panorama also captures another region, “Lac de Charmes,” where the rover’s team will be looking for more rock core samples to collect in the year ahead.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Selfie Time. Sol 1711, December 12, 2025. SHERLOC WATSON camera. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/pixelart/p/1564219/perseverance-landing-but-instead-of-the-giant-parachute-it-s-ingenuity

Further post-drive info for mission context

Updated context map of Percy’s whereabouts for this sol below. The outer rim of Jezero Crater is on the right. The sites of the most recent rock abrasions, #50 and #51, are labelled in red. The rover’s current position is marked with a cross:

Detailed map of the rover's whereabouts this sol below:

Further post-drive info for mission context

Updated context map of Percy’s whereabouts for this sol below. The nearest portion of the Jezero Crater outer rim is on the lower right. The sites of the most recent rock abrasions, #50 and #51, are labelled in red. The rover’s current position is marked with a cross:

Detailed map of the rover's whereabouts below:

Left Mastcam-Z camera, acquired on December 7, 2025 (Sol 1706) 13:37 LMST. Processed / Cropped Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

R-MastCam-Z - Sol 1703 - December 04 2025 Processed cropped. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Sol 1704 (December 5, 2025)

Here's a post drive NavCam acquired after the 40 minute drive to the north, we can see some of the tracks behind the rover in this image looking south.

Check the comments for the drive details and the revised map showing the new location

Image credits NASA/JPL-Caltech

A NavCam mosaic assembled from 6 tiles acquired after the drive to site 82.1486. The rover dropped 54 meters in elevation during the drive on December 2, 2025. Full details of the drive are attached, the maps are included in the comments section of this post

SHERLOC WATSON Cropped composite of three images assembled using MS-ICE. Looking at the other images gathered, it appears ad though they were inspecting the large round SuperCam window. The rover fires its laser at rocks and soils through that window, using its optics to analyze its targets by optical emission, and to acquire images of the targets using its RMI camera (Remote Microscopic Imager). November 28, 2025 (Sol 1697) Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

MastCam-Z: Checking out the dark capping rocks on a nearby hill, before the rover drove to the southwest later in the day.

Image acquired during sol 1687. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU/Kevin M Gill

Further post-drive info for mission context

Updated map of Percy’s present whereabouts, beyond the Jezero Crater rim, below. The site of the most recent rock abrasion, #50, is labelled. The rover’s current position is marked with a cross:

Further post-drive info for mission context

Updated map of Percy’s present whereabouts, beyond the Jezero Crater rim, below. The site of the most recent rock abrasion, #50, is labelled. The rover’s current position is marked with a cross:

(Mosaic above courtesy of u/paulhammond5155)

Further post-drive info for mission context

Updated map of Percy’s present whereabouts, beyond the Jezero Crater rim, below. The site of the most recent rock abrasion, #50, is labelled. The rover’s current position is marked with a cross:

Perseverance rover acquired the base images for this composite image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.

This image was acquired on November 8, 2025 (Sol 1678) at the local mean solar time of 12:32

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU