Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover, images its calibration target for the first time since the rover landed on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. The target is used as a reference marker so scientists can adjust the colors and settings on the cameras.
Mastcam-Z was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, and is operated by Arizona State University in Tempe.
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
Subsequent missions by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency) would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.
For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU