Perseverance rover (Mars 2020)
NASA · Mars (Jezero Crater)
Active in Jezero Crater, hunting signs of ancient life and caching samples, including the Sapphire Canyon sample whose potential biosignatures reached a Nature paper in 2025.
At a glance
- Phase
- surface operations
- Operator
- NASA
- Destination
- Mars (Jezero Crater)
- Last verified
- 2026-08-07
Where it stands
Active on Mars and past the marathon mark: NASA/JPL records the 42.195 km milestone on 14 June 2026, sol 1,890. On 5 August 2026 NASA published Mastcam-Z images of Earth vanishing behind Phobos, the first observation of Earth disappearing behind another body taken from another planet's surface; the Sapphire Canyon sample still carries potential biosignatures (Nature, September 2025).
The mission
Perseverance remains active in and around Jezero Crater, continuing its search for signs of ancient microbial life and caching samples for a possible future return to Earth. NASA's mission page highlights the Sapphire Canyon sample, drilled from the Cheyava Falls rock, whose potential biosignatures were confirmed in a peer-reviewed Nature paper in September 2025. The page's running totals (over 30 kilometres driven, 24 rock and regolith samples plus one air sample) carry an October 2024 stamp, so current figures are higher.
Latest reporting
Related
Sources
- science.nasa.gov · https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/
- nasa.gov · https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasas-perseverance-rover-watches-earth-vanish-behind-martian-moon/