2026-03-06
Mastcam-Z at Astronomy on Tap!
Contributed by Louise Duflot and Alicia Vaughan
Just before Valentine’s Day, we had the privilege to share our work with the public at a local “Astronomy on Tap” event in Tempe, AZ. We joined a lively crowd of space enthusiasts, SESE folks and community members to talk about Perseverance and the role Mastcam-Z plays in exploring Jezero crater.
A few days before our 5-year landing anniversary, we walked through Perseverance’s journey across Mars. We shared images that Mastcam-Z took along the way, from the crater floor to beyond the Jezero crater rim onto new horizons. It was actually quite nostalgic to prepare this talk, seeing how far we’ve come, how many sights never seen before we were able to capture! We also talked about how exactly we do science with the multispectral data we receive, and Alicia shared highlights from her work examining boulder diversity on the delta fan.
We had excellent crowd engagement throughout the evening. The venue had room for an outreach display of anaglyphs, 3D models, and a very cool, very cumbersome full-size model of the rover wheel. We also handed out small house-made ZCAM jigsaw puzzles (see our blog post about it here)! Everyone had the chance to put on their 3D glasses, looking absolutely fabulous while viewing equally spectacular stereo images from Mars.
The audience even had the opportunity to vote on their favorite Mastcam-Z mosaic of the night. The winner, no surprise to me, was Mount Musard (mosaic #4 in the figure), a three-pointing mosaic taken on mission Sol 1618, looking to an area of the outer crater rim named “Lac de Charmes”. Who could resist those sweeping hills and expansive horizon!
As a team, we really do love participating in all sorts of outreach events, like Astronomy on Tap. Our mission is made possible through public funding and broad collaboration, so opportunities to connect and give back to the community are an important part of what we do. And of course, it’s even better when the event is held in a place with delicious food and beverages!
As Perseverance continues its work in Jezero crater, Mastcam-Z remains central to documenting Mars’ geological story. Each new image we take contributes to a growing archive of observations that will inform scientific research for years to come. The Mastcam-Z team looks forward to continuing to share this journey with all of you!
A huge thanks to Dr. Luis Welbanks, who runs Astronomy on Tap – Valley of the Sun, for organizing this event and inviting us to join in, and to Four Peaks in Tempe for hosting the event! And huge thanks and photo credits to Kristen Paris and Tasha Coelho for the great people photos posted here!
Bonus Question: Would you have guessed the correct answer to the trivia tiebreaker?
(A) 360; (B) 993; (C) 1; (D) 1266
Hint: The answer is posted at this link!