NASA personnel are celebrating the news that its Perseverance rover has finally reached the top of the Mars’ Jezero Crater rim after a challenging climb that took three-and-a-half months to complete. The six-wheeled rover ascended 1,640 feet (500 meters) and made stops along the way to conduct various science observations as it continues its search for signs of ancient microbial life on the red planet. “During the Jezero Crater rim climb, our rover drivers have done an amazing job negotiating some of the toughest terrain we’ve encountered since landing,” said Steven Lee , deputy project manager for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
“They developed innovative approaches to overcome these challenges — even tried driving backward to see if it would help — and the rover has come through it all like a champ.” Lee added: “Perseverance is ‘go’ for everything the science team wants to throw at it during this next science campaign.” The rover, which is about the size of a small car, had been exploring the floor of the crater, as well as the site of an ancient river delta, since landing there in spectacular fashion in 2021.
What now? Exploring beyond the crater allows the rover team to investigate regions that have not been previously studied, potentially revealing different geological features and histories on Mars. Perseverance’s next science campaign is called Northern Rim as its route will cover the northern p.
