Water Enters Jezero Crater Billions of Years Ago (Artist's Concept)

A CLOSER LOOK

This animated artist's concept depicts a scene of water breaking through the rim of Mars' Jezero Crater, which NASA's Perseverance rover is now exploring. Water entered the crater billions of years ago, depositing sediments that built up into a delta. Since the spacecraft's landing in February 2021, Perseverance's exploration of the crater floor and the delta have led to scientists developing a detailed timeline for the crater's formation. They now know there were three major periods after water began flooding through the crater rim. First, those waters brought fine-grained sand and mud (seen by Perseverance at "Hogwallow Flats") that is known for preserving fossilized life in comparable environments on Earth. Second, the crater's lake grew as wide as 22 miles (35 kilometers) in diameter a

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