Jezero Crater

Jezero Crater is a 45 km ancient lake crater and the landing site of the Perseverance rover. Explore it in 3D at real scale and drive the real route.

Location

18.4° N, 77.5° E, western edge of Isidis Planitia

Size

about 45 km across

Landed

Perseverance and Ingenuity, 18 February 2021

Why it matters

an ancient lake with a preserved river delta

Jezero Crater sits on the western edge of Isidis Planitia, one of the largest impact basins on Mars. Roughly 3.5 billion years ago the crater was filled with water. A river cut through its western wall and dropped sediment where it met the lake, building a fan-shaped delta that is still clearly visible from orbit today.

That delta is the reason Perseverance went there. River and lake sediments are among the best places on Earth to preserve signs of ancient microbial life, so the rover was sent to drill rock cores from them and seal the most promising samples in tubes for a possible future return to Earth.

What to look for

• The delta. West of the landing site, layered cliffs mark the front of the old river delta. In the 3D view you can see how it rises above the crater floor.
• The crater rim. Jezero is about 45 km wide. After years on the floor and the delta, Perseverance climbed onto the rim to study some of the oldest rocks it can reach.
• Ingenuity's airfield. The small helicopter that travelled with Perseverance made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet here in April 2021.
• The real route. In Trawers the rover's actual traverse is drawn on the map, together with panoramas taken by its Mastcam-Z cameras at the spots where they were shot.

Driving Jezero in Trawers

Jezero is the default landing site in the game and the most detailed area on the map, with high-resolution orbital imagery and terrain models. Everything is at real scale: the crossing from the landing site to the rim is a real multi-day drive, not a few seconds of animation.

The crater is also where the first parcels can be adopted, so you may see other players' names on the ground as you drive.