Perseverance Drives Backward Up Jezero Crater's Rim

A CLOSER LOOK

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover drove first backward then forward as it negotiated some slippery terrain found along a route up the rim of Jezero Crater that the science team calls "Summerland Trail." The 31 images used to create this video were acquired by one of the rover's navigation cameras on Oct. 15, 2024, the 1,299th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraf

Explore NASA's original image record for credits and available downloads.