The spinning dust devil hit NASA’s perseverance roaming film photography on Mars, creating unexpected highlights in the robot’s latest selfies.
The six-wheel explorer captured the atmospheric phenomenon in the background as he celebrated his 1500th Mars Day exploring the ancient terrain of the Red Planet. The timing couldn’t be better, just like perseverance posing near the fresh drill holes on “Witch Hazelnut Mountain”, the distant dust devil adds a dynamic element to the most compelling self-portrait to date.
The May 10 selfie marks an important milestone for the nuclear-powered rover, and it has been methodically exploring the edge of the Jezero Crater for the past five months. The site is among scientists of scientists, some of the most interesting geologically terrain perseverance encountered since its landing in February 2021.
Capture the perfect Mars moment
“The self-portrait of the Witch Hazel area enjoys the beauty of the terrain and the roamer’s hardware,” said Justin Maki, the lead actor in Perseverance imaging at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “The bright scenes and relatively clear atmosphere allow us to capture the dust devil 3 miles north of Neretva Vallis.”
The photogenic Dust Devil is not the only star taken in this Martian photo. The bright sunlight illuminates the deck of perseverance while casting dramatic shadows under the chassis. Directly in front of the rover is the “Bell Island” drilling, which is evidence of the ongoing sample collection work for the task.
Creating this masterpiece requires serious robot orchestration. The selfie combines 59 separate images taken by a Watson camera mounted on the Perseverance robot’s arm, and each time the lens needs to be precisely positioned.
Engineering miracles in action
“To get a selfie look, each Watson image has to have its own unique vision,” explains Megan Wu, a perseverance imaging scientist at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. “That means we have to do precise movements of 62 robot arms. The whole process takes about an hour, but it’s worth it. Letting the dust devil in the background make it a classic. It’s a great shot.”
This image can not only achieve public relations purposes. The engineering team used these detailed portraits to evaluate the condition after Mars exploration months. In these comprehensive self-examinations, dust accumulation, instrument status and overall hardware health become clear.
Key achievements of Perseverance 1,500 Thor include:
- 37 rocks and boulders analyzed with scientific tools
- 26 rocks were collected (25 seals, 1 unsealed rock left)
- Over 22 miles through the Martian terrain
- Continuous generators that generate electricity from radioisotope thermoelectric generators
Ancient rocks, new discoveries
Although Dust Devils offers visual drama, Parseverance’s current mission focuses on exploring “Krokodillen,” a 73-acre plateau that may contain some of the oldest rocks on Mars. The area is named after the Norwegian ridge, representing the key boundary between the ancient edge of the Jezero crater and the surrounding plains.
“The last five months have been a geological cyclone,” said Ken Farley, associate project scientist at Caltech Perseverance at Pasadena. “Just as successful as our exploration of the Witch Hazelnut Mountain, our commitment to Croco Dylan will be equally compelling.”
The Krokodillen region has a special scientific interest because it contains clay minerals – geological evidence suggests that liquid water once flowed through this now-Barron landscape. These clays were formed during the Martian period of the earliest geological era on Earth, making them possible for billions of years of history.
Strategic sample storage
Perseverance adopts a new sampling strategy that provides maximum flexibility for future discoveries. Rather than sealing each rock core immediately, the task retains the selected samples in case more striking specimens are found.
“We’ve been exploring Mars for over four years, and every filled sample tube we have on board has its own unique and compelling story,” said Katie Stack Morgan, an agent project scientist for Perseverance. “We still have seven empty sample tubes in front of us and a lot of open roads, so we will keep several tubes (including one that contains the core of Bell Island) and it’s been ongoing.”
Despite the accumulation of Martian gravel over 1,541 Earth dates, the dust-covered rover continues to explore in an orderly manner. As project manager Art Thompson pointed out: “After 1,500 sol, we may be a little dusty, but our beauty is more than just the depths of our skin.”
With years of potential discovery, this dusty devil’s powdery bomb can remind people that Mars is still full of surprises, even in regular selfie sessions.
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