【A Male Friend Who Spins it Around】

The A Male Friend Who Spins it AroundPerseverancerover has reached the top of the Jezero Crater rim on Mars, a hike that rose 1,640 feet — higher than the Empire State Building is tall. 

NASAmission leaders said the rover, which had embarked on the journey 3.5 months ago, got its first look at its destination on Dec. 10. From there, the mobile lab will begin its fifth science campaign, pursuing a route dubbed "Northern Rim" that will span several years. 

On the drive up, Perseverance encountered steep, slippery slopes. Its human operators, separated by some 70 million miles in space, had to brainstorm solutions on the fly to help navigate obstacles. At one point, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team even tried steering the rover in reverse to see if that made the trek any easier. 

---

You May Also Like

---

---

"Our rover drivers have done an amazing job negotiating some of the toughest terrain we’ve encountered since landing," said Steven Lee, deputy project manager for Perseverance, in a statement.

SEE ALSO: NASA's Mars rovers had a gangbusters summer of rocks This map outlines the upcoming route for the Perseverance rover to explore Jezero Crater's rim. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESA / University of Arizona

The climb follows a highly productive summerfor the rover and its twin Curiosity. They discovered several rocks that reveal Mars as having been a more geologically diverse planet than once thought. In a stretch of seven weeks, Perseverance and Curiosity found pure sulfur, a likely anorthositeboulder that could be a part of the planet's original crust, and a spotted rock with the most compelling signs of ancient Martian lifeyet, though a sample would need to be shipped back to Earth for confirmation. 

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Then this fall, as Perseverance rumbled up the crater, it found an odd zebra-striped rockthat could have formed through igneous or metamorphic processes. 

Jezero Crater is a site on the Red Planet where scientists believe a river once emptied into a body of water. The reason scientists now want to explore the rim is to look for ancient Martian bedrockrubble. Jezero formed when something substantial smacked into the planet close to 4 billion years ago. The impact could have churned up and tossed deep materials to the surface.  

Over the first year of the new campaign, the rover is expected to visit up to four sites to collect samples, traversing about four miles. First stop: Witch Hazel Hill, composed of a vast layered field of rocks.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Each layer is like a page in the book of Martian history," said Candice Bedford, a rover scientist from Purdue University in Indiana, in a statement. "As we drive down the hill, we will be going back in time, investigating the ancient environments of Mars recorded in the crater rim."

---

Related Stories

---

• NASA's Mars rovers had a gangbusters summer of rocks
• Past life on Mars? Here's what new NASA evidence points to.
• The best telescopes for gazing at stars and solar eclipses in 2024
• Mars rover spots strange rock that's got NASA 'excited'
• NASA's plan to return Martian rocks is in trouble. Could these 7 companies help?

Intriguing rock discoveries have only mounted pressure on NASA to solve the problems facing its proposed Mars Sample Return mission, an expensive and complex plan to fly bits of rock, dust, and air collected by Perseverance back to Earth. 

The mission has been in limbo since a reviewfound it would cost upward of $11 billion and take nearly two decades to achieve. NASA has since engaged the greater aerospace industry for input on how to save it. Earlier this year, seven companies suggested a variety of ideas, which Mashable reported, including repurposing Artemismoon landers and rethinking the last leg of the journey. 

NASA hasn't yet announced its path forward, and it's unclear how the incoming administration will affect plans. 

Topics NASA

• Games
• Life
• Deals
• Social Good
• Science
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Tech

• NYT Connections hints and answers for January 20: Tips to solve 'Connections' #589.
• Why women in France walked out of work at 4:34 p.m. on a Monday
• Why the royal statement on trolling is unprecedented
• Happy Election Day! Snap's Spectacles are live
• Sri Lanka vs. Australia 2025 livestream: Watch 1st ODI for free
• All the ways to watch the votes roll in
• Donald Trump says Bill Belichick wrote him this endorsement letter
• Xiaomi's powerful air pollution beating face mask comes with a tiny air purifier
• Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors 2024 livestream: Watch NBA online
• Text glitch directs thousands of people to wrong polling stations

• World's most excited tiny surfer is freakin' stoked to be back on 'Ellen'
• Lady Gaga just slayed the Super Bowl
• 'The Lego Batman Movie' is a pop
• Lady Gaga will perform with 'hundreds of drones' at Super Bowl LI's halftime show
• Coke ran an old diversity
• The FCC is already declining to enforce net neutrality
• Gambling site is offering 2:1 odds that Trump will be impeached
• How to use Google Calendar’s smart meeting scheduler
• Scientists filmed something outrageous riding on a shark
• Of course Chelsea Peretti styled her own birth announcement after Beyoncé

• Best vacuum deal: Get the Dyson V8 Plus cordless vacuum for $120 off
• Here's where you can and can't snap that ballot selfie
• The Pittsburgh Steelers and the terrible, no good, very bad onside kick
• 'Granma' Hillary makes a very important FaceTime call before Election Day
• Best vacuum deal: Get the Dyson V8 Plus cordless vacuum for $120 off
• People can't figure out how to turn on the edge
• New Android Auto app will work on your phone
• How did the FBI search through all those new Clinton emails so fast?
• How to unblock Pornhub for free in South Carolina
• Joss Whedon calls on celebrity superheroes one last time to get out the vote

• YouTube adds parent code feature, blocking your child's access to adult accounts
• Guy gets medieval on home intruder, shooting his butt with bow and arrow
• Spotify is urging listeners to vote with a message from Barack Obama
• The 'Mannequin Challenge' is letting us live our sci
• Hinge partners with Esther Perel for new prompts
• Little girl cuts off tantrum the second snacks come into play
• Text glitch directs thousands of people to wrong polling stations
• How Gotham Chopra mines the sports world for deeper meaning
• Man City vs. Real Madrid 2025 livestream: Watch Champions League for free
• 'Dishonored 2' is gaming's best argument yet against photorealism