Things can get lonely on Mars. NASA’s four-wheeled robot has been roaming the Red Planet for more than three years, trekking across the harsh terrain on its own after losing its pal Ingenuity. But perhaps the Martian rover has found a way to connect with us from 140 million miles away.
Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, NASA’s Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to “search for potential evidence of past life,” according to the official mission objectives.
NASA’s iconic Martian duo have officially parted ways, with the Perseverance rover capturing a lonely view of its helicopter friend, which recently suffered a fatal blow that left it unable to fly.
For more than two years, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been roaming Mars, drilling for rock samples that may hold clues to ancient life on the Red Planet, but the six-wheeled robot can only travel so far. Luckily, the rover recently got some extra help from a river that once flowed on the surface of Mars.
NASA’s Curiosity rover recently spotted some of the most compelling evidence yet of ancient water on Mars, in the form of rippled rocks shaped by waves.
NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars on February 18, 2020, and has since been spending every Martian sol exploring the western end of Jezero Crater, imaging the Martian surface, and—vitally—collecting rock samples that will be shipped to Earth in the early 2030s.