NASA has published new selfies taken by the Perseverance rover on Mars. In addition to the vehicle, you can also see a small vortex called a dust devil.
The selfies were taken in honor of the 1500th sol (Martian day) of Perseverance’s operation on the surface of the Red Planet. Since its landing, it has processed and analyzed with its scientific instruments a total of 37 rocks and boulders, collected 26 soil samples and traveled more than 36 kilometers.
In addition to symbolism, Martian selfies have important practical implications. They give engineers a chance to look at the rover from the outside and assess the condition of its instruments and the amount of dust that has accumulated on it.
At the time of the shooting, Perseverance was in an area called “Witch Hazel Hill.” It is located on the edge of Jezero Crater, which the rover has been exploring for the past five months. Thanks to good lighting conditions, in addition to the vehicle, the Martian dust devil can also be seen in the frame in the form of a small cloud behind Perseverance. The tornado was located 5 km to the north in the Neretva valley.
Such dust tornadoes are formed by the rising and rotating columns of warm air. Air near the planet’s surface is warmed by contact with the warm earth and rises through a denser, colder layer. When other air moves along the surface to take the place of the rising warm air, it begins to rotate. As the incoming air rises into the column, it gains speed, like a spinning figure skater bringing his arms closer to his body. The air rushing in also picks up dust. This is how the dust devil is born.
In addition to the tornado, the tracks left by Perseverance and the last sampling location (in front of the rover) are also in the frame. We can also point out that in more than four years on Mars, the lander has gotten pretty dusty.
Taking selfies took an hour. It was assembled from 59 individual images taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera. It is mounted on the end of the robotic arm. WATSON needed to take three additional images to make a version of the image in which the rover is “looking” at the drilled hole.
Previously, we reported on how Perseverance would search for life in the “Krokodillen” area.
According to JPL
