How Mastcam-Z's 360-Degree Panorama Was Taken

This animation shows the order in which the 142 images that make up Mastcam-Z's first 360-degree panorama were taken. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable cameras on the mast, or "head," of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24444