NASA’s Perseverance rover has released its fifth selfie from the Martian surface, and this one comes with an uninvited guest.
Captured on 10 May to commemorate the rover’s 1,500th sol on Mars, the image was taken in a high-sunlight window over a terrain known as Witch Hazel Hill. The result is a sharply lit self-portrait of the six-wheeled explorer, but it’s what appears in the distance that caught attention back on Earth.
Visible in the background, just beyond the Jezero Crater’s rim, is a dust devil twisting its way across the Martian plain. The swirling column was captured by chance as the rover’s WATSON camera stitched together 62 images to build the shot.
The image and footage were captured and published by NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The selfie not only provides a clear look at the Perseverance rover’s exterior condition, now visibly dust-coated after more than 22 miles of driving and 37 rock abrasions, but also offers engineers a status check on key systems and hardware. Up front, the “Bell Island” borehole marks the latest sample site.
NASA’s video of the scene shows the dust devil in motion, drifting through Neretva Vallis some three miles north of the rover’s position.
Its appearance highlights the ongoing weather dynamics scientists continue to study across the Martian surface.
With all systems in working order, the Perseverance rover is now moving through an area called “Krokodillen” as it continues to collect data and samples for eventual return to Earth.
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