NASA Reveals The Best Photos Shot By Mars Perseverance Rover In 2021
NASA’s Perseverance rover first landed in the Jezero crater back in February, launching Mars exploration into one of 2021’s biggest highlights. Since then, it has sent back some 180,000 photos of the Red Planet.
The space agency releases these images on its website for enthusiasts, inviting enthusiasts to react to them. The photo with the most ‘likes’ each week is hailed as the Image of the Week.
“My passion for rock collecting is matched only by my love of photography,” says the Perseverance Twitter account. “Thanks for voting on your favorite new images each week—looking forward to many more to come!”
To look back on an eventful year in space discovery, NASA has created a montage featuring 41 of the most-liked pictures taken by the Perseverance rover, beginning with the very first photo it snapped of the Red Planet.
My passion for rock collecting is matched only by my love of photography. Thanks for voting on your favorite new images each week – looking forward to many more to come!
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 22, 2021
📷 View and “like” photos: https://t.co/L6lhCNdqWq
🗓 Image of the Week gallery: https://t.co/jQbq9rXW53 pic.twitter.com/bwdGp5UxKq
In another overview, Perseverance shares its key takeaways from navigating its new home in 2021. It details that a lot of the Red Planet’s rocks are volcanic and have had contact with water “multiple times,” and that some of it contains organic molecules that make up “the building blocks of life.”
According to Digital Trends, several of the crowd-favorite images were taken by Perseverance’s primary camera Mastcam-Z, which is able to capture panoramic and 3D photos in color, along with high-definition video.
To explore more photographs by the Mars rover this year, check out the full gallery right here.
[via Digital Trends, video and images via NASA]
