This is the close-range focus capability of the Perseverance rover’s WATSON camera

This is the close-range focus capability of the Perseverance rover's WATSON camera

WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) is found in the SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals).

These clear allusions to Conan Doyle’s universe are found at the end of Perseverance’s long robotic arm. Below you can see a focus test performed on rock targets on the surface of the Red Planet .

WATSON

A sequence of images taken on May 10 on a rock target in Jezero crater demonstrates the focusing capabilities of this camera aboard the Perseverance rover.

The design of this rover is almost identical to that of the Curiosity rover ; has seven scientific instruments to study the Martian surface starting from the Jezero crater. It also has 23 cameras and two microphones on board. Also on the mission will be the Ingenuity scout helicopter, which will help the Perseverance rover find possible places to study.

The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and store Martian rocks and regoliths (broken rocks and dust).