Astronomy Picture Of The Day Explore the cosmos Every day, a new image or photograph of the fascinating universe is presented along with a short explanation by an astronomer. 2021 July 1With Ingenuity and Perseverance, Selfie for PerseveranceImage credit: NASA, JPL–Caltech, MSSSExplanation: The Perseverance Rover held out a robotic arm on sol 46 (April 6, 2021), to take its first selfie at Mars. The WATSON camera attached to the arm was intended to capture close-ups on martian rocks and other surface details, not just a quick shot of smiling faces and friends. It took weeks of planning and teamwork to program complex exposures and camera movements to include Perseverance. The result was 62 frames that were combined into a detailed mosaic, which is one of the most complex Mars rover selfies. This selfie shows the Mastcam Z and SuperCam instruments of the rover looking towards WATSON and the end the rover’s outstretched hand. A robotic companion, Mars Ingenuity helicopter is located approximately 4 meters (13 ft) away from Perseverance.
