First image from NASA's perseverance after landing on Mars

Washington, Feb 19: NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has sent back its first image from the surface of the Red Planet. The image(s) come from Perseverance's Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams), which help with driving.

The clear protective covers over these cameras are still on. These first images are low-resolution versions known as "thumbnails." Higher-resolution versions will be available later.

Cheers erupted in mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as controllers confirmed that NASA's Perseverance rover, with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter attached to its belly, has touched down safely on Mars. Engineers are analyzing the data flowing back from the spacecraft.

Perseverance, the biggest, most advanced rover ever sent by NASA, became the ninth spacecraft to successfully land on Mars, every one of them from the U.S., beginning in the 1970s. The car-size, plutonium-powered vehicle arrived at Jezero Crater, hitting NASA's smallest and trickiest target yet: a 5--by-4-mile strip on an ancient river delta full of pits, cliffs and fields of rock.