Perseverance rover spots its first dust devil on Mars
By Elizabeth Howell 2 hours ago
Perseverance, meet serendipity.
NASA's newest Mars rover nabbed a significant extraterrestrial sighting when an onboard camera happened to spot a Red Planet dust devil crossing Jezero Crater.
Engineers on the Perseverance rover mission saw the whirlwind in the distance of images captured by one of the rover's cameras as the dust made its way behind the rover's robotic arm. NASA published footage of the dust devil but has not released estimates of its size or speed.
"Spotted a dust devil. You can see it in the distance behind my robotic arm in this enhanced/processed view. The dust devil is moving right to left and creating whirlwinds of dust in its path," Perseverance mission representatives wrote in a tweet late Tuesday (March 16).
Link to tweet
As you can see in this enhanced Space.com video (which includes audio obtained earlier in the mission), the dust devil moves from right to left, beginning at the far right side of the animation. Perseverance only landed on Mars on Feb. 18 and has spent roughly 25 Red Planet days, called "sols," on the surface.
More:
https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-sees-mars-dust-devil?utm_source=notification