NASA's Perseverance rover captures 360-degree view of Mars' Jezero Crater

On Dec. 12, 2023, NASA's Perseverance rover reached a milestone — 1,000 Martian days, or sols, on Mars.

To celebrate, NASA released a 360-degree mosaic of the rover's current location

The composite image comprises 993 individual images taken with Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument last year on Nov. 3, Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, and includes a whopping 2.38 billion pixels.

That landscape is Jezero Crater, where a river had flowed into an ancient lake an estimated 3.5 billion years ago.

In addition to studying the geology of the crater, scientists are looking for past signs of microbial life.

Previously, Perseverance studied the crater floor before working its way through the sediments of the river delta.

Next, it will work its way "upstream" to the point where the river carved a canyon in the crater rim.

Then, Perseverance will climb its way up a natural ramp to the rim itself.