Jezero Crater Archives

Perseverance training its mast on the “Arathusa” rocky outcrop -- NASA More information

Perseverance Astrobiology Rover – A Selfie While Working

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[NASA] NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on March 11, 2026, the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, during the rover’s deepest push west beyond Jezero Crater. […]

An aerial view of a reddish surface shows the tops of ridges. A very faint green speck can be seen just left of center of the image. Rover tracks can be seen tracing the surface. The travel route of Mars Perseverance Rover - rover location highlighted in box left of center -- NASA Larger image

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Perseverance Astrobiology Droid Has Completed A Martian Marathon

by Keith CowingJune 26, 2026June 27, 2026

[NASA] On June 14, 2026, Mars Perseverance rover completed a Martian “marathon” by surpassing 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers) of travel. The day before, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this view […]

The Perseverance rover on Mars inspects a rock dubbed Cheyava Falls with the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument on its robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware

Organic Carbon Detected In The Bright Angel Formation On Mars

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2026June 25, 2026

In September of last year, NASA announced that its Perseverance rover discovered a potential biosignature, which is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin.

(a) Mastcam-Z image of the base of the delta with the Rockytop outcrop within the 6 m high scarp (sol 429, zcam08452) located at the base of the Tenby formation immediately overlying the Hogwallow Flats light-toned deposits. The white arrow indicates the fallen block where the SuperCam target Fourway has been analyzed. -- JGR Planets

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

In Situ Carbonation of Sedimentary and Igneous Rocks of Ultramafic Composition in Jezero Crater, Mars

by Keith CowingMay 15, 2026May 15, 2026

Over 3.5 years of exploration in Jezero Crater, the Perseverance rover has explored several geological units of diverse origins and natures, performing multi-technique remote analyses of the chemistry and mineralogy […]

NASA’s Perseverance looks down at a rocky outcrop nicknamed “Arethusa” and then appears to look into the camera in this animated selfie, which is composed of 61 images taken March 11, 2026, during the rover’s deepest push west beyond Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Analog Studies, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Perseverance Rover Snaps Selfie in Mars’ Western Frontier

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

The agency’s six-wheeled geologist took a self-portrait during its survey of an ancient landscape that may predate the formation of Jezero Crater itself.

TOP - NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this 360-degree view of a region filled with low ridges called boxwork formations between Nov. 9 and Dec. 7, 2025. At 1.5 billion pixels, this is one of the largest panoramas Curiosity has ever taken. Larger image BOTTOM - NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this 360-degree panorama of a region nicknamed “Crocodile Bridge” on the rim of Jezero Crater. This region holds some of the oldest rocks anywhere in the solar system. Larger image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

NASA’s Perseverance, Curiosity Panoramas Capture Two Sides of Mars

by Keith CowingApril 28, 2026April 28, 2026

NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have captured two 360-degree landscapes that highlight how the missions are revealing details of the Red Planet’s formation, watery past, and potential for life (astrobiology).

The same gentle wind that would create small ripples on a lake in Earth (right) would make large waves on Saturn’s largest moon Titan (left). In these renderings, the marker is measured in meters. Credit Courtesy of Taylor Perron, Una Schneck, et al

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Waves Hit Different On Other Planets

by Keith CowingApril 20, 2026April 20, 2026

On a calm day, a light breeze might barely ripple the surface of a lake on Earth. But on Saturn’s largest moon Titan, a similar mild wind would kick up […]

PIXL micro-XRF observation from the third “Apollo Temple” scan (a,b), alongside a SHERLOC WATSON color image for context (c). An RGB composite shows the areas with relative enrichment of FeOT, SO3, and SiO2 where brownish tones highlight Fe-sulfide (a). Zones of Ni enrichment are seen in yellow (b) and marked with white arrows (a,b,c). Dashed black box shows the approximate area of the PIXL scan (c). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Strong Nickel Enrichment Co-located With Redox-organic Interactions In Neretva Vallis, Mars

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2026April 8, 2026

In 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover explored Neretva Vallis, an ancient river channel that once transported water into Jezero crater.

ID: ESP_054090_1985 date: 9 February 2018 altitude: 280 km larger image

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Exploring Northeast Syrtis via Jezero Crater

by Keith CowingMarch 21, 2026March 21, 2026

One of the final three candidate landing sites for the Mars 2020 mission was northeast Syrtis, along with Gusev Crater/Columbia Hills and the eventual landing site for the Perseverance rover, […]

(Left) Predicted concretion diameter for different nucleation density scaling exponents α. For α ≤ 1, diffusion controls at the Mars dust grain size and predictions match observations (green band). For α ≥ 1.5, nucleation dominates even at 3 µm, predicting concretions well below the observed range, ruled out by the data. (Right) Crossover grain size as a function of α (log scale). Green region: diffusion-limited zone (crossover above Mars dust at 3 µm). Pink region: nucleation-limited zone. The graincontact derivation (dotted line, α = 1) sits within the diffusion-limited zone, consistent with observations. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Status Report

Martian Concretion Sizes Predicted From Two Independently Constrained Inputs: Atmospheric Dust Grain Size And Obliquity-forced Wetting Duration

by Keith CowingMarch 13, 2026March 13, 2026

Diagenetic concretions have been identified at multiple widely separated sites on Mars, including Meridiani Planum (Opportunity), Gale crater (Curiosity), and Jezero crater (Perseverance).