NASA Mars rovers capture celestial events and geological data

NASA's Mars rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, continue their ongoing missions to explore the Martian surface. Recent data and imagery from the missions highlight significant scientific observations and milestones.

Operating near the rim of Jezero Crater, the Perseverance rover successfully captured an occultation event where Earth temporarily disappeared behind the Martian moon, Phobos. Using its Mastcam-Z instrument, the rover recorded Earth as a single-pixel point of light as it was blocked by the moon. This celestial alignment occurred at approximately 7 p.m. local solar time on July 2.

Additionally, the Curiosity rover continues its mission to determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. The combined efforts of these robotic explorers provide ongoing geological and astrobiological insights into the Red Planet's history.