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A year on Mars: How NASA’s Perseverance hit a geological jackpot

The rover collected exciting rock samples on the first leg of its epic journey. Next, it will turn towards an ancient river delta to look for past life.
  1. Alexandra Witze
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Mars Perseverance Sol 143: Left Navigation Camera (Navcam).

During its first Earth year on Mars, the Perseverance rover has used its sampling arm to collect rock cores and explore the red planet's geochemistry. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Since landing on Mars one year ago, NASA’s Perseverance rover has travelled more than 3 kilometres across rocky terrain, recorded the first flight on the planet by a helicopter and collected six precious rock samples that — if all goes well — will one day be returned to Earth, along with many more, for study.

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Nature 603, 18-19 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00469-w

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