March 17, 2021
NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars has just sent back its first initial science results, as well as some new audio recordings of wind and the rover’s laser zapping rocks.
The first target for Perseverance’s SuperCam instrument was a flat, whitish rock that researchers have named Máaz, which is the Navajo word for Mars. Preliminary results show it has a basaltic composition. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.
It’s been a month since NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. After initial testing of various components and systems, the rover has started traveling across the ancient lakebed in Jezero Crater. NASA said on March 10 that its first science results were already arriving on Earth, as as well as some new audio recordings of wind and the spacecraft’s laser zapping rocks.