Map has an inset with a zoom of the new location . North is up on these maps

9 NavCam tiles were assembled in MS-ICE. The workspace appears to show where light-toned and dark-toned rocks meet. I'll assume this will be an interesting site for the science team, so we could be here for a few days so they can study the rocks

Detailed drive data. This data is extracted from JPL's JSON URLs after each drive.

Climbing above Bright Angel

Perseverance rover completed a drive to the north on Sol 1204 (June 10, 2024). Here's one of the post drive tiled-navigation camera images, this one is looking South-southwest. The total drive distance was 14.4 meters (47.4 ft). During the drive the rover climbed 2.3 meters (7.6 ft). The rover is still in Neretva Vallis, but has climbed high up the north bank of the valley.

Assembled from 16 tiles from the rover's L-NavCam (sol 1201). Lots of detail of the terrain where the rover was stationed off to the side of the current location. Zoom in if Lemmy hosts it full resolution [5113x3833px]

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech 😀

Episode 170 Last month, Perseverance encountered one of the most interesting rocks of the entire mission. It came with a bonus rock that could help explain key events in the history of Jezero crater, but only if Perseverance could make the right moves.

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Left Mastcam-Z camera.

Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.

This image was acquired on June 29, 2024 (Sol 1194) at the local mean solar time of 10:03:45.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Perseverance looks east after a very short drive on sol 1195. The drive distance was just 33 cm (1.1 ft), probably to bring new targets within reach of the tools / instruments on the rover's robotic arm. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Postcard from Jezero crater: Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Left MastCam-Z camera. MastCam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast. This full frame image was acquired on June 29, 2024 (Sol 1194) at the local mean solar time of 10:04:23. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Inspired by a post from: https://fosstodon.org/@65dBnoise@mastodon.social

Perseverance discovered rocks filled with parallel mineral veins similar to ones on Earth referred to as “beef”. But now close-up images reveal that the veins are clogged with bits of other rocks and minerals that changes the origin story.

Mars Guy is Arizona State University associate research professor Dr. Steve Ruff, a Mars geologist with decades of experience exploring the red planet. This channel follows the exploration of Jezero crater by the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, presenting science, engineering, and the search for life on Mars using a novel in-person experience.

This project was initiated in part with collaboration from the NASA Infiniscope project.

NASA - News release - June 26, 2024

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Tiled-NavCam looking West while the rover is stationed in the Northeast section of Bright Angel. Image acquired at ~11am (local solar time) Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

After months of driving, Perseverance has finally arrived at ‘Bright Angel’, discovering oddly textured rock unlike any the rover has seen before. The team now plans to drive up the slope to uncover the origin of this rock sequence and its relationship to the margin unit.

Having completed a survey of the intriguing and diverse boulders at 'Mount Washburn,’ the rover headed north, parking just in front of an exposure of layered light toned rock. This provided the team with our first close-up look of the rocks that make up the ‘Bright Angel’ exposure, so Perseverance stopped to acquire images, before driving west to a larger and more accessible outcrop where the rover will conduct detailed exploration.

Perseverance arrived at the base of this outcrop on sol 1175, and geologists on the science team were mesmerized by the strange textures of the light toned rocks found there. These rocks are filled with sharp ridges that resemble the mineral veins found at the base of the fan, but there appears to be more of them here. Additionally, some rocks are densely packed with small spheres, and we’ve jokingly referred to this as a ‘popcorn’-like texture. Together, these features suggest that groundwater flowed through these rocks after they were laid down. Next, Perseverance will gradually ascend up the rock exposure, taking measurements as it goes. Over the weekend, the abrasion tool will be used to take a close-up look and acquire detailed chemical information using the instruments on the rover’s arm. With this data in hand, the team will decide whether or not to sample. Once our exploration at ‘Bright Angel’ is complete, we will drive south back across Neretva Vallis and explore a site called ‘Serpentine Rapids’.

Written by Athanasios Klidaras, Ph.D. Student at Purdue University

Heavily stretched SHERLOC-WATSON image of the latest abrasion patch.

Diameter is ~5 cm, 2 inches

Acquired - June 14, 2024 (Sol 1179) - Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech