NASA shares stunning new images of Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover was first launched toward Mars two full years ago and has been exploring the planet ever since, returning stunning new high-resolution images of the Red Planet with each passing day. Wednesday was no different as the space agency shared a few new photos perseverance site.

Images posted on Wednesday include color and grayscale shots of Mars’ horizon, a barren landscape strewn with jagged rocks.

Earlier this year, Perseverance broke NASA’s record for the most distances a rover travels to Mars in a single day. On February 15, the ship traveled nearly 1,050 feet during the exploration mission.

“The samples collected by perseverance will provide a key timeline for the formation of the Jezero Crater,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Each one is carefully studied for its scientific value.”

“Right now, we’re taking what we know about the age of craters on the Moon and extrapolating that to Mars,” added Katie Stack-Morgan, deputy perseverance project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Resampling a sample from this crater-ridden surface on Jezero Island could provide a anchor point for independently calibrating the Mars crater dating system, rather than relying solely on Lunar Crater.”

Perseverance is currently hunting down the planet’s Jezero Crater in search of signs of ancient alien life. It collects rock samples for analysis by scientists here on Earth. At the current rate, officials expect the samples will not return until 2031.

“This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA and the United States and global space exploration — when we know we’re on the cusp of discovery and sharpen our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite textbooks,” then-NASA Administrator Steve Gorczyk said of the persevering landing on Mars. last year. “The Perseverance Mission in March 2020 embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance even in the most difficult situations, inspiring and developing science, exploration and development. The mission itself embodies the human ideal of perseverance into the future and will help us prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet in the 2030s.”