We were not ready for this incredible mosaic of Mars collected by NASA’s Perseverance: a combination of 1,118 individual frames stitched together to create a 2.5 billion pixel landscape. 

You can see the granularity of the Martian sand, the effect of the wind, hairline fractures of rocks, and the sedimentary layer left by drying mud billions of years ago. This is the most detailed panorama ever taken on another planet. And it is magnificent.

Perseverance is exploring an ancient river delta that once brought water into Jezero Crater. As the water disappeared, it left layer after layer of sedimentary rock. The NASA rover has been analyzing the surface of these rocks and collecting samples to be brought back to Earth. These rocks will provide insight into what it was like when Mars was a wet world, and maybe even tell us what the chances are that life forms developed there.

The images were taken on June 12, 13, 16, and 17, 2022 during the initial exploration of the delta by the rover.

See the full-resolution image here.