NASA's Perseverance rover has marked 1,000 Martian days on the Red Planet. A Martian day, known as a "sol," lasts 24 hours and 37 minutes, slightly longer than Earth's day.
Landing in Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, Perseverance and its robotic companion, the Ingenuity helicopter, explore for ancient signs of Mars life on the crater's floor.
NASA reports that the Perseverance rover finished exploring the ancient river delta in Jezero Crater, which contains evidence of a lake that existed billions of years ago.
The six-wheeled rover has to date collected a total of 23 samples, revealing the geologic history of this region of Mars in the process.
Perseverance collected and stored 13 rock cores in its belly, each revealing unique chemistry. These cores narrate the events of Mars's Jezero Crater around 3.7-3.5 billion years ago.
The presence of salt-rich mudstones is the sole evidence of a past shallow lake in Jezero Crater, measuring 22 miles in width and 100 feet in depth, before climatic changes led to evaporation.
NASA is set to collaborate with the European Space Agency on a Jezero Crater project. A review board is assessing technical solutions, time frames, and costs, with a report due early next year.