Perseverance cut this view of his “head” on April 6th.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
Mars robbers are machines, but it’s hard not to anthropomorphize them and give them cute nicknames like “Percy” and “Oppy”. NASA’s Perseverance Rover has just returned a charming selfie-style photo showing its ‘face’.
NASA’s most recent rovers all had a mast with a series of instruments on top that are considered the “head” of the rover. Cameras mounted on the mast give us an exciting view of the Martian surface. Perseverance’s new photo is tantamount to looking at the rover in the “eyes”.
The main selfie comes thanks to the Sherloc Watson camera mounted on the rover’s robotic arm, which snapped the picture Tuesday. It is reminiscent of a a similar headshot selfie taken by NASA’s Curiosity Rover in 2018.
Space fans on earth are also eagerly awaiting the first official full-body selfie. We already have a spectacular panorama showing much of the rover in late February.
Perseverance arrived on Mars in mid-February and had a full range of activities, including views of the landscape, download the experimental Ingenuity helicopter and interesting rocks with a laser stamping. The next big milestone for the robber is to see Ingenuity embark on its first test flight later this month. Expect more exciting footage to come.
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