Perseverance’s most outta-this-world images of 2021

December 25, 2021 OSTN Staff

It’s been a big year for everyone, including the tenacious robot that’s been traversing the rocky hills and valleys of Mars, the Perseverance rover.

Perseverance successfully landed on the Red Planet in mid-February. Its initial mission: surveillance. It was Perseverance’s job to take pictures showing what Mars looks like up close and personal. Then, in May, it pivoted to scientist mode, and began conducting science experiments — a lot of hitting rocks with lasers! — to help us earthlings gain a better understanding of our close planetary neighbor.

Tweet may have been deleted

Still, Perseverance continued to take photographs and send back its Martian dispatches to NASA. For the past 10 months, the public has been voting on a “picture of the week” from Perseverance’s photo dumps. NASA compiled the most-liked images into a cache of 44 snapshots.

Below are our favorites, including images of the Martian surface and of course, some Perseverance selfies. Enjoy.

Week 1’s picture of the week was a moody black and white POV shot.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Week 4’s pic of the week shows that the key to a good selfie is also getting that horizon line right.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Impressed with Perseverance’s Week 6 photography skills! Capturing that depth with multiple layers of terrain when it’s all a reddish-tan color is no easy feat!
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Has Perseverance been listening to Coldplay? Because the only way to describe Week 10 is to call it yellow.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

And you thought your iPhone could take a macro shot! This extreme-close up of a martian rock from Week 15 is brought to you by Perseverance’s “Super Cam.”
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech