Nasa releases 980-image Perseverance, 1,031-image Curiosity panoramas
nasa released new panoramas from its Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, giving scientists a side-by-side look at two very different parts of Mars. One view comes from Perseverance near Jezero Crater, and the other from Curiosity deep in Gale Crater.
The Perseverance panorama was built from 980 images collected between Dec. 18, 2025 and Jan. 25, 2026. Curiosity’s panorama uses 1,031 images taken between Nov. 9 and Dec. 7, 2025.
Perseverance at Lac de Charmes
Perseverance took its panorama in an area nicknamed Lac de Charmes near the rim of Jezero Crater, where it has been exploring since its February 2021 landing. The view looks across rugged terrain carved by ancient water activity.
Layered rocks and scattered boulders appear in the image, preserving evidence of the lake and river delta that existed there billions of years ago. For scientists comparing landing sites, that gives one rover a record tied to water-shaped ground near Jezero Crater.
Curiosity in Gale Crater
Curiosity’s latest panorama comes from deep within Gale Crater, where the rover has spent years climbing the foothills of Mount Sharp. The image highlights a network of low ridges known as boxwork formations.
Those formations formed when groundwater moved through large fractures in the bedrock and left minerals behind that later resisted erosion. Over nearly 15 years on Mars, Curiosity has also identified carbonate minerals like siderite and increasingly diverse organic molecules, including some among the largest and most complex ever detected on the planet.
Two Mars records
Taken together, the panoramas show different chapters of Martian history through separate terrain. Perseverance is reading a landscape shaped by ancient standing water, while Curiosity is tracing minerals and ridge patterns left by groundwater in another crater.
For researchers, the practical value is in the comparison: the two active rovers are not just sending pictures, but documenting two regions that preserve different kinds of Mars history in high detail.
