NASA’s Perseverance explores Fallbreen and Forlandet to study ancient rocks and uncover Mars’ early geologic history.
NASA's Perseverance rover reached new ground on June 7, 2025
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
In a study conducted on June 7, 2025, NASA's Perseverance stayed and continued the descent into the flat surface further ahead of the Jezero Crater on Mars. Scientists have suggested that this region may contain some of the oldest rocks studied on the surface of Mars. This states that it is a prime location for uncovering insights into the ancient history of the planet. As of now, Perseverance is roving at Fallbreen, an outcrop of light-toned bedrock that provides a promising opportunity for analysis by geology.
According to NASA's team of scientists, they are focused on the comparison of Fallbreen to the olivine-rich outcrop called Copper Cove. These kinds of comparisons can offer a closer look towards the major geologic unit occupied by carbonate and olivine. This is known as the formation that spreads hundreds of kilometres west of Jezero Crater. After knowing the rock formation, researchers gained a strong understanding of Mars's surface and the surrounding circumstances that were billions of years ago using NASA's Perseverance's data.
Path of Perseverance recently passed a key boundary as it further moved from Copper Cove and reached the Forlandet quadrangle. This region is around 1.2 square kilometres, surrounded by the crater's edge, called Fortland National Park in the Svalbard archipelago. The name of the region is kept in honour of the park's history. Dutch explorers discovered this in the 16th century by the mystery of the Arctic.
Svalbard was explored by some brave soldiers in search of the Northwest Passage. Perseverance is rovering around the sand dunes and also towards the rocky buttes, searching for the challenges of Mars along with endurance and curiosity.
At its time in the Forlandet quadrangle, it will encounter target rocks and various other landforms. These will be further named as per the locations in and around Norway's Forlandet National Park, which links the exploration of Mars to the legacy of Earth's discovery. The names kept will be a tribute to the past and present explorers' perseverance.
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