The Landform contextual mesh fuses 2D and 3D data from up to thousands of Mars 2020 rover images, along with orbital elevation and color maps from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, into an interactive 3D terrain visualization. Contextual meshes are built automatically for each rover location during mission ground data system processing, and are made available to mission scientists for tactical and strategic planning in the Advanced Science Targeting Tool for Robotic Operations (ASTTRO). A subset of them are also deployed to the "Explore with Perseverance" public access website.

Looking at this new picture from NASA's Perseverance rover, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's something fishy afoot on the Red Planet. That's because the car-sized robot has snapped an image of two separate boulders resembling a shark fin and a crab claw. The US space agency shared this latest discovery on X (formerly known as Twitter), prompting a wave of replies from space fans who joked that the crab-like rock was the remains of the'Almighty Great Cosmic Crab'. Others said the'claw' looked more like a coffee bean or the head of a turtle'digging a hole for its eggs', while some quipped that the shark fin might actually be the'back plates' of a Stegosaurus. The photos, which were taken last month, are the latest example of a phenomenon known as pareidolia -- where the human brain wants to make sense of what the eyes see so creates a meaning which isn't real. Peculiar: NASA's Perseverance rover has snapped images of two separate boulders resembling a shark fin and a crab claw Most famously with Mars, this happened in 1976 when NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft captured an image of what looked like a face carved into the surface of the Red Planet.

NASA's Perseverance Rover has collected a sample of Martian rock to be returned to Earth which could contain signs of life. But don't get too excited yet, as this particular tube won't reach a terrestrial laboratory where it can be studied for another 10 years or so. It has been roaming Mars to look for sampling sites that might contain ancient microbes and organics for almost a year now. In that time, it has completed its first of four search campaigns, which focused on the crater floor and the base of the Neretva Vallis delta. NASA's Perseverance Rover has collected a sample of Martian rock which could contain signs of life. NASA's Perseverance rover (pictured) chooses a sample using its suite of onboard instruments to detect whether organic molecules are present in some rock before coring.

NASA's Perseverance Rover has finally deposited its first sample of Martian rock to be returned to Earth. The car-sized robot began its mission to find ancient biomarkers in the clay on the Red Planet on April 22, which could indicate if alien life ever existed there. It has been roaming around a delta to look for sampling sites that might contain ancient microbes and organics, before drilling down to extract a specimen. Most of those it has collected so far remain in its belly, however this one is the first to be dropped at the base of the delta, and may be retrieved in a future mission. This titanium tube (pictured) contains a core of igneous rock extracted from a region of Mars' Jezero Crater called'South Séítah' on January 31 NASA's Perseverance rover (pictured) chooses a sample using its suite of onboard instruments to detect whether organic molecules are present in some rock before coring. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, with a'near-dead' dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.

NASA's Perseverance rover has been aptly named because -- nearly two months after beginning its search into past life on Mars -- it has still yet to find any viable samples. The car-sized robot began its mission to find ancient biomarkers in the Martian clay on April 22, which could indicate if alien life ever existed on the Red Planet. It has been roaming around an ancient delta to look for sampling sites that might contain ancient microbes and organics. The rover then drills down to extract a specimen that it plans to leave at the base of the delta to be retrieved in future missions. However, NASA has since revealed that, so far, no samples have been successfully collected. The fragile clay materials the rover targets have been known to fracture, crack and crumble during the abrasion and coring process.

It turns out Earth is not the only planet humans are contaminating. A new image snapped by NASA's Perseverance rover captures the sad reality of how we are already littering Mars with rubbish. Engineers discovered a discarded thermal blanket which they said was used to protect the car-sized vehicle from extreme temperatures it experienced during landing. 'It's a surprise finding this here,' they said, as Perseverance's descent took place just over a mile away from where the debris was found. The team added: 'Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?' It is not the first time a bit of wreckage has been spotted on the Red Planet this year.

Nasa's Perseverance rover has reached a key moment in its search for evidence of past life on Mars. The car-sized robot, which landed on the Red Planet in February last year, will today (Tuesday) begin climbing up an ancient delta to look for sampling sites that might contain ancient microbes and organics. This ascent will be for reconnaissance, as Perseverance goes'walkabout' looking for rocks with the best chance of holding secrets about whether alien life once existed on Mars. As it makes its way back down, the rover will then collect some of these specimens from the Jezero Crater and leave the samples at the base of the delta to be retrieved by future missions. Nasa's Perseverance rover (pictured) has reached a key moment in its search for evidence of past life on Mars. The engineering cameras give detailed information in colour about the terrain the rover has to cross.

NASA's Perseverance rover has finally taken its sixth successful sample of rock from the Martian surface, after managing to shake off pebbles stuck in its tubes. At the end of December the SUV-sized rover drilled into a rock named'issole', but it couldn't seal up the titanium tube as planned. This is because pebbles had fallen out and clogged up the sample-handling system. After a technical manoeuvre that involved spinning the drill really fast, and then turning it upside down, NASA engineers cleared the system in Mid-January. Perseverance has hit'issole' again to finally get a sample of Mars, finding the rock covered in'drill and abrasion marks' that resemble a shocked face. 'This rock almost looked surprised that I was coming back!

NASA's Perseverance rover has tried out a nifty new feature for the first time, which let it'spit out' a piece of Mars rock that had been clogging its sampling tube. The trick means that Perseverance can now continue taking samples of rock from the Red Planet to search for possible signs of ancient life. The SUV-sized vehicle has been on the Red Planet since February 2021, and is slowly trundling through the Jezero Crater taking rock samples for later retrieval. On December 29, while retrieving a sample from a rock, its sixth so far, NASA engineers found they couldn't get the rock to go into the storage area. This was due to a pebble-sized piece of debris obstructing the robotic arm, blocking the entrance to the tube docking area - nearly a month later, this has been solved. NASA used an untested'un-choking procedure', that involved pointing the drill containing a clogged test tube towards the ground and rotating it at high speed.

NASA's Perseverance rover hit a snag while trying to capture its latest piece of rock from Mars, with a pebble-sized bit of debris stopping it from storing the sample. The SUV-sized vehicle has been on the Red Planet since February 2021, and is slowly trundling through the Jezero Crater taking rock samples for later retrieval. The Perseverance team, tweeting as the rover, wrote: 'I recently captured my sixth rock core and have encountered a new challenge. Seems some pebble-sized debris is obstructing my robotic arm from handing off the tube for sealing/storage.' It retrieved the sample on December 29, or sol 306 on Mars, where it successfully cored and extracted the sample, but the transfer to the tube failed. On January 7, NASA discovered there was a small piece of rock inside the entrance to the tube docking area, blocking it from entering.