NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have captured 360-degree panoramas that show different chapters of the Red Planet’s ancient history
These vehicles are thousands of kilometers apart on Mars, but together they help us understand how the planet formed, whether it had water in the past, and whether it may have harbored life.
Curiosity, which has been on Mars for almost 15 years, has explored the interior of Gale Crater and is now climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometer-high mountain.
It travels to younger terrain, while Perseverance, with only 5 years of mission, investigates some of the oldest rocks in the Solar System, near Jezero Crater.
It’s as if the two rovers are traveling through time in opposite directions, filling in gaps in Martian history.
Recently, Curiosity assembled a gigantic panoramic image using 1,031 photos taken between November and December 2025. This view, with 1.5 billion pixels, reveals a region full of low ridges called “boxwork” formations.
From space, these structures look like large spider webs.
They formed when groundwater passed through cracks in ancient rock, depositing minerals that hardened and resisted erosion.
Today, Mars is a cold, dry desert, but these markings show that there was flowing water in the past, creating an environment that could have supported microbial life.
Perseverance, in turn, sent a panorama composed of 980 images, taken between December 2025 and January 2026, of an area nicknamed “Lac de Charmes,” off the rim of Jezero Crater.
The image shows the relief of the crater’s ring and very old rocks.
This region is special because, billions of years ago, a river fed a lake inside the crater, depositing sediments that could preserve signs of microbes.
Since landing in 2012, Curiosity has confirmed that Mars had ancient lakes with chemistry suitable for life, including nutrients for microbes.
As it climbs Mount Sharp, it analyzes layers of rock that record different eras: first lakes, then drier periods.
In samples, it found siderite, a mineral that may have stored carbon dioxide from the ancient atmosphere, and complex organic molecules, some never seen before on Mars.
These discoveries are important for understanding if there was prebiotic chemistry, a step towards life.
Perseverance, which arrived in 2021, focuses on collecting samples of intact rocks to bring back to Earth in the future.
A rock called “Cheyava Falls” caught attention for having spots similar to those created by microbes on Earth.
The rover also recorded electrical sparks in dust devils and auroras visible from the surface – phenomena that were previously only theoretical.
While Curiosity now explores layers rich in sulfate minerals, Perseverance is heading to even older terrains, such as the “Singing Canyon.” Both robots, managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, continue to unravel the secrets of Mars.
Their missions show a planet that was once wetter and more dynamic, with the potential to have harbored microbial life billions of years ago.
These panoramas are not just beautiful images: they allow us to visualize the real environment where the rovers work, connecting the public to scientific exploration.
Over time, the samples collected and the data sent will help scientists reconstruct the complete history of Mars and, who knows, answer whether we are alone in the universe.
The exploration continues, revealing more and more mysteries of our red neighbor.
Published in 04/28/2026 22h56
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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