This image shows the WATSON camera aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover gathering data on the "Walhalla Glades" abrasion patch. It was taken in the "Bright Angel" region of Jezero Crater by one of the rover's front hazard avoidance cameras on June 14, 2024, the 1,180th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) is located on the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument at the end of Perseverance's long robotic arm. In this image, SHERLOC is at the bottom of the turret. The WATSON camera head is closest to the surface, and SHERLOC's Autofocus and Context Imager (another camera) is to the right, closer to the drill.

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is also characterizing the planet's geology and past climate, which paves the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/