NASA’s Perseverance rover has successfully scaled the rim of the Jezero Crater, marking a pivotal moment in its mission on Mars.

After a grueling three-and-a-half-month climb, the rover has now set the stage for its next phase of exploration, aiming to unlock the ancient secrets of Martian geology and potential signs of past life.

On its journey to the summit of Lookout Hill, the rover faced some of the steepest challenges yet.

Just days before reaching the top, Perseverance captured a striking panoramic image using its Mastcam-Z camera system.

This image, taken on December 5, 2024, the 1,349th Martian day or sol of the mission, vividly showcases the steep slopes that lead up to the rim.

At the time of capturing this panorama, the rover was positioned about 1,150 feet (350 meters) from and 250 feet (75 meters) below the top of the crater rim.

Ken Farley, a project scientist for the mission from Caltech, expressed excitement about the new discoveries ahead.

‘The Northern Rim campaign brings us completely new scientific riches as Perseverance roves into fundamentally new geology,’ he stated.

This transition explores from the basin fill to the more complex structures of the crater’s rim, where the oldest rocks on Mars are believed to reside.

pia26374 — *The route NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took (in blue) as it climbed the western rim of Jezero Crater.*
*Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona*

Next on the agenda is Witch Hazel Hill, an intriguing rocky outcrop located about 450 meters from Lookout Hill.

This site boasts over 100 meters of layered Martian history, each layer offering clues to the environmental conditions of ancient Mars.

‘As we drive down the hill, we will be going back in time, investigating the ancient environments of Mars recorded in the crater rim,’ noted Candice Bedford, a scientist on the Perseverance team from Purdue University.

After exploring Witch Hazel Hill, the rover will proceed to the Lac de Charmes region. This area, positioned on the plains beyond the crater rim, likely experienced minimal impact effects, providing a unique snapshot of Mars’s geologic past.

The rover’s path will then lead it back to explore a segment of ancient bedrock, shattered by past impacts and reassembled into what scientists call megabreccia.

Steven Lee, deputy project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, praised the rover’s performance through challenging terrain.

‘Our rover drivers have innovated their way through these challenges — they even tried driving backward to improve maneuverability — and Perseverance has handled it all impressively,’ he shared during a recent briefing at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting.

This new chapter in Perseverance’s mission not only offers a chance to study Mars’s early crust but also to probe the deeper questions of life’s potential on the red planet, casting light on the mysteries of early planetary environments across the solar system.