Perseverance Science Instruments - NASA Science

Perseverance’s science instruments are state-of-the-art tools designed to acquire information about Martian geology, atmosphere, environmental conditions, and potential biosignatures.

The Mastcam-Z is the name of the mast-mounted camera system that is equipped with a zoom function on the Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z has cameras that can zoom in, focus, and take 3D pictures and video at high speed to allow detailed examination of distant objects.

The SuperCam on the Perseverance rover examines rocks and soils with a camera, laser, and spectrometers to seek chemical materials that could be related to past life on Mars. It can identify the chemical and mineral makeup of areas on Mars as small as a pencil point, from a distance of more than 20 feet (7 meters). This instrument also has a significant contribution from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (CNES/IRAP) France.

Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals

Mounted on the rover's robotic arm, SHERLOC uses cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals that have been altered by watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life. In addition to its black-and-white context camera, SHERLOC is assisted by WATSON, a color camera for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures.

The Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry is called PIXL. PIXL has a tool called an X-ray spectrometer. It identifies chemical elements at a tiny scale. PIXL also has a camera that takes super close-up pictures of rock and soil textures. It can see features as small as a grain of salt! Together, this information helps scientists look for signs of past microbial life on Mars.

The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer is known as MEDA. It makes weather measurements including wind speed and direction, temperature and humidity, and also measures the amount and size of dust particles in the Martian atmosphere.

The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, or MOXIE, is helping NASA prepare for human exploration of Mars. MOXIE tested a way for future explorers to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere for burning fuel and breathing.

RIMFAX uses radar waves to probe the ground under the rover.

James Webb Space Telescope

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno