Mars Real Traces of Life

Stitched together from 79 individual images, this Mastcam-Z right-eye 110-mm zoom mosaic is from the camera’s first high-resolution panorama imaging sequence. These images were taken on the afternoon of Sol 4 (Feb. 22, 2021) of the mission; a sol is a Martian day. The camera was commanded to take these images by scanning the mast, or “head,“ a full 360-degrees around the horizon visible from the landing site. The top of some of the distant crater rim is cut off in some images to ensure the images would cover the front ridge of the Jezero Crater’s ancient delta, which is only about miles (2 kilometers) away from the rover in the center of this panorama. At that distance and focal length, Mastcam-Z can resolve features as small as about 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) across along the front of the delta. The mosaic is not white balanced but is instead displayed in a preliminary calibrated version of a natural color composite, approximately simulating the colors of the scene that we would