NASA's Perseverance Rover at 'Falbreen'
Figure A, Natural color (.png, 256 MB)
Figure B, Anaglyph (.png, 311 MB)
Figure C, Annotated (.png, 309 MB)
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of an area nicknamed "Falbreen" on May 26, 2025, the 1,516th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Ninety-six separate images were stitched together to make the panorama. This enhanced-color version, which had its color bands processed to improve visual contrast and accentuate color differences, shows the Martian sky to be remarkably clear and deceptively blue.
- The bright white circle just left of center and near the bottom of the image is an abrasion patch. This is the 43rd rock Perseverance has abraded since it landed on Mars in February 2021.
- Rover tracks can be seen toward the mosaic's right edge. About 300 feet (90 meters) away, they veer to the left, disappearing from sight at a previous geologic stop the science team calls "Kenmore."
- The black "float rock" that appears to be resting on top of a sand ripple is more than likely sitting directly on top of the rocky surface: The dust that created the sand ripple simply built up around it. The rock is about 14 feet (4.4 meters) from the rover.
Figure A is a natural-color version of the mosaic.
Figure B is a 3D anaglyph version designed for use with red-blue glasses. It is composed of 192 separate images collected by Mastcam-Z.
Figure C is an annotated version of the enhanced mosaic that indicates the distances (in kilometers) of some faraway hills, highlighting the visibility at the time the images were taken.
Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/