NASA’s Perseverance Rover shared an exciting photo on Friday, just in front of its wheels.
In the photo shared on the official Perseverance Twitter Account, we get an extremely rare, close-up photo of an entire rover on (or almost on) another planet. The lower right quarter shows the wires used to lower the vehicle from its “jetpack” lander, which hovered above the surface with rocket propulsion.
After the descent and confirmation of the landing, the lander was programmed to fly away at a safe distance and land on the surface so that the precious rover he had just unloaded was not damaged.
The photo also gives a new perspective on the area where endurance has landed. The first photos shared just after landing were captured with black-and-white navigation cameras, while this new photo is of a much higher quality, better showing the flat and welcoming piece of Marsland on which Perseverance will begin its mission.
More high-quality photos (known as sols) from the Rover’s Mastcam-Z imagery are expected to be sent back to Earth in the coming March days.