Perseverance rover sends new self‑portrait

NASA released a new self-portrait of the Perseverance rover on May 12, showing the six-wheeled robot parked beside a rocky outcrop in terrain west of Jezero Crater on Mars. The image was taken on March 11, 2026 — the mission’s 1,797th Martian day, or sol — and assembled from 61 individual frames. (jpl.nasa.gov) NASA said the rover captured the selfie at a site the science team calls “Lac de Charmes,” during what the agency described as its deepest push west beyond the crater. The western rim of Jezero Crater appears in the background. ### Why is NASA calling this Perseverance’s westernmost selfie? Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the image was taken in the “Wild West” beyond Jezero Crater’s rim, “the farthest west we have been since we landed at Jezero a little over five years ago.” NASA said the rover is now working in an area that may predate the formation of Jezero Crater itself. (science.nasa.gov) March 11 marked the rover’s deepest westward drive beyond the crater, according to NASA’s description of the image. The agency said Perseverance is in its fifth science campaign, known as the Northern Rim Campaign. (jpl.nasa.gov) ### What exactly is in the picture? The 61-image composite shows Perseverance aiming its mast toward a rocky outcrop nicknamed “Arathusa,” after the rover created a pale circular abrasion patch on the rock. NASA said that abrasion exposed material below the weathered surface for closer study. The background includes the western rim of Jezero Crater and a broad view of surrounding terrain at Lac de Charmes. (jpl.nasa.gov) NASA also released a second version and an animation in which the rover appears to glance toward the camera, built from the same imaging sequence. ### How does a Mars rover take a “selfie” if no camera is visible? NASA said the selfie was taken with WATSON, short for Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering, a camera mounted at the end of Perseverance’s robotic arm. WATSON is part of the SHERLOC instrument, and NASA said the images were stitched together after transmission back to Earth. (jpl.nasa.gov) JPL said the rover made 62 precision arm movements over about an hour to build the composite. Because the camera is held away from the rover and the frames are combined later, the arm itself does not appear in the finished portrait. (science.nasa.gov) ### What were scientists studying when the image was taken? NASA said the rover had just abraded the Arathusa outcrop before taking the selfie. During abrasion, the rover grinds away part of a rock’s outer surface so instruments can examine fresher material underneath. JPL said that analysis showed Arathusa is composed of igneous minerals that likely predate Jezero Crater’s formation. (science.nasa.gov) NASA said igneous rocks with large mineral crystals form underground as molten rock cools and solidifies. ### How unusual is a new Perseverance self-portrait? NASA said this is Perseverance’s sixth selfie since landing on Mars in 2021. (jpl.nasa.gov) The agency has used such portraits both as public-facing images and as records of where the rover was working during major stretches of the mission. The May 12 release placed the selfie alongside other recent mission updates, including a panorama from an area nicknamed “Arbot” that Perseverance captured on April 5, 2026. (jpl.nasa.gov) NASA said that panorama was made from 46 images during the same broader westward exploration beyond Jezero Crater. ### Where can readers follow what Perseverance does next? NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission pages now host the new selfie, a labeled version, and an animation derived from the March 11 image sequence. The same NASA updates page also tracks newer imagery and reports from the rover’s Northern Rim Campaign. (jpl.nasa.gov) NASA said Perseverance remains at work beyond Jezero Crater in terrain the mission team considers scientifically compelling. The agency’s most recent related update on May 12 also highlighted the April 5 “Arbot” panorama, indicating more imagery and geology reports are continuing to come out of the rover’s current campaign. (science.nasa.gov) (jpl.nasa.gov)