BREATHTAKING VIEWS: NASA RELEASES 12,000 NEW PHOTOS FROM ARTEMIS II MISSION\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The rover assembled 61 images showcasing the region the mission team calls Lac de Charmes.<\/p>\n The selfie captures Perseverance “training its mast on a rocky outcrop on which it had just made a circular abrasion patch, with the western rim of Jezero Crater stretching into the background.”<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls “Lac de Charmes.”<\/p>\n (NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS \/ NASA)<\/p>\n The photos were taken on March 11 during the rover\u2019s westward journey beyond the crater rim. According to scientists, the Lac de Charmes region represents some of the most scientifically compelling terrain<\/a> Perseverance has explored so far.<\/p>\n HOW OFTEN DO METEORITES CRASH IN THE US?<\/a><\/p>\n “We took this image when the rover was in the \u2018Wild West\u2019 beyond the Jezero Crater rim \u2014 the farthest west we have been since we landed at Jezero a little over five years ago,”\u00a0Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance\u2019s project scientist at\u00a0NASA<\/a> Jet Propulsion Laboratory\u00a0in Southern California, <\/a>said.<\/p>\n Along with the selfie, the rover also captured 46 images of the “Arbot” area within Lac de Charmes. The photos offered some of the richest geological<\/a> imagery of the mission, revealing a landscape filled with diverse rock formations.<\/p>\n The rover grinded down a portion of the rock\u2019s surface, allowing the science team to analyze what\u2019s inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n (NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS \/ NASA)<\/p>\n “What I see in this image is excellent exposure of likely the oldest rocks we are going to investigate during this mission,”\u00a0Ken Farley, Perseverance\u2019s deputy project scientist at\u00a0California<\/a> Institute of Technology\u00a0in Pasadena<\/a>, said.<\/p>\n The images provide NASA scientists with a clearer roadmap for investigating the ridge line and its wide variety of rocks.<\/p>\n THE BEST CELESTIAL EVENTS IN 2026 YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS<\/a><\/p>\n Some of the formations appear to be megabreccias, massive fragments, some the size of skyscrapers, hurled into place by a powerful meteorite <\/a>impact.<\/p>\n “There is a sharp ridge line visible in the mosaic whose jagged, angular texture contrasts starkly with the rounded boulders in the foreground,” Farley said. “We also see a feature that may be a volcanic<\/a> dike, a vertical intrusion of magma that hardened in place and was left standing as the softer surrounding material eroded away over billions of years.”<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover captured a clear panorama of Mars’ Gale Crater in August.<\/p>\n The rover also grinded down a portion of the rock’s surface, allowing the team to see what\u2019s inside a rocky outcrop nicknamed “Arathusa.”<\/p>\n The team determined that the rock was composed of igneous minerals that likely predate the formation of Jezero Crater.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/hin95bsbaaaf0lp.jpeg\")
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