As soon as it landed, NASA’s new Mars rover has already got a comprehensive picture of its surroundings. The first panorama image with the NavCam (which is actually intended for navigation and whose lenses are from Jenoptik in Jena) last weekend gave a good overview of the landing site. Now the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument has provided its first panoramic view. And it’s even sharper.
The new panorama was taken on February 21st. It consists of a total of 142 images that cover the entire area in 360 degrees. The high-resolution images from the dual camera system help the NASA teams assess the geological and atmospheric conditions of the Jezero crater and identify rocks and sediments for further investigation by the rover’s other instruments. The video gives you a complete overview and the zoom shows how high the resolution of the images is.