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NASA’s Perseverance rover has spent 2026 exploring the ancient Lac de Charmes region west of Jezero crater. At a nearby area called Idubi, it found a boulder with an unusual light-and-dark texture, but an attempt to collect a sample failed because the rock was too hard.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has found an unusually textured boulder at Idubi, near the end of its exploration of the ancient Lac de Charmes region west of Jezero crater. The rover could not collect a sample from the hard boulder, so the science team is looking for a similar rock it can sample while investigating nearby terrain.
In an update published Sept. 28, NASA said Perseverance spent much of 2026 exploring Lac de Charmes, a landscape of valleys and ridges west of Jezero crater’s rim. The rocks there are among the oldest the rover has encountered. Scientists are examining them for clues to Mars’s early history, before the river and lake sediments inside Jezero formed.
The rover made 13 abrasion patches on rocks selected by the team. These patches expose rock surfaces for closer investigation. NASA said the examinations so far suggest many rocks formed from cooled lava or magma, while others may be impactites, rocks formed in the aftermath of an impact. Some show evidence of both processes. These are preliminary interpretations reported by the mission team.
More recently, Perseverance traveled to Idubi, where hundreds of light-toned boulders had been spotted from a distance. One boulder revealed an unusual mix of light and dark textures at an abrasion patch named Badger Peak. An attempted sample collection failed because the boulder was too hard. The rover has since stopped at a nearby outcrop called Gardenia, which may be a breccia: a rock made up of fragments of older rocks. NASA said the team planned an abrasion there during the week of Sept. 21.
Ancient Rocks Could Reveal Mars’s Early History
The rocks at Lac de Charmes may preserve evidence from a period before the Jezero crater sediments formed in rivers and lakes. By studying their composition and textures, the science team is investigating how early Mars changed and how rocky planets developed during the young solar system’s impact-heavy era.
The varied rocks at Idubi add another set of questions. A boulder that combines light and dark textures may record more than one process, but the update does not identify what produced its appearance. A sample could give researchers material for more detailed study. The failed collection means that question remains open for this particular rock, while the search for a similar, more workable boulder continues.
The rover’s work also shows how robotic exploration combines broad surveys with close examination. Images identified targets at a distance; abrasion patches then exposed surfaces for study. The results inform where the team looks next and which rocks may be worth collecting for future analysis.
From Jezero’s Rim to Lac de Charmes
Perseverance is exploring terrain west of Jezero crater, where the rocks differ in age and setting from the sedimentary deposits inside the crater. NASA describes the Lac de Charmes rocks as having formed when Mars was young and asteroids were striking the planet. The update does not give a precise age for the rocks.
The science team chose to investigate the area thoroughly before deciding which rocks to sample. NASA says Perseverance followed a looping route between outcrops to help researchers understand how the region formed. During this work, the rover made 13 abrasion patches, gathering observations from a range of targets.
NASA also credits a new driving algorithm with helping the rover make longer, more accurate drives. The algorithm uses a processor that had originally supported communications with the Ingenuity helicopter. The update does not provide drive-distance figures or quantify how much the algorithm improved performance.
NASA’s Sept. 28 post also marks the return of regular updates to the Perseverance rover updates page after a long pause. It presents the rover’s exploration as ongoing and says the mission is preparing to move onward from Lac de Charmes.
What the Idubi Rocks May Reveal
The cause of the light-and-dark texture at Badger Peak has not been established in the update. NASA does not report a successful sample from that boulder, and the team is still looking for a similar rock that Perseverance can collect.
Gardenia could be a breccia, but the description remains tentative. The planned abrasion was intended to give the team a closer look; the update does not report its results. The rock interpretations from the 13 abrasion patches are also described as suggestions from investigations so far, rather than final conclusions.
NASA’s post does not provide a date for the rover’s departure from Lac de Charmes, identify its next destination, or give a schedule for any future sample return. It also does not specify when the next update will appear.
A Closer Look at Gardenia
NASA said Perseverance would attempt an abrasion at Gardenia during the week of Sept. 21, 2026, to examine the outcrop’s surface and assess whether it may be a breccia. The post was published Sept. 28 but does not say whether that planned work had been completed by publication.
The science team is also searching for another boulder like Badger Peak that is less hard and can be sampled. After the rover finishes exploring Lac de Charmes, NASA says it is preparing to move onward. The agency has not named the next area or given a timeline in this update.
Key Questions
Where is Perseverance exploring?
The rover has spent 2026 exploring Lac de Charmes, an area of valleys and ridges west of Jezero crater’s rim. It recently traveled to nearby terrain nicknamed Idubi.
Did Perseverance collect a sample from Badger Peak?
No. NASA said an attempt to sample the boulder failed because it was too hard. The team is searching for a similar rock that the rover can sample.
What could the rocks tell scientists?
The rocks may help scientists study early Martian history and the development of rocky planets. NASA says investigations point to possible volcanic origins for many rocks and impact origins for others, but those interpretations are still under study.
What will Perseverance do next?
The team planned an abrasion at the nearby Gardenia outcrop and is looking for a sampleable rock similar to Badger Peak. NASA says the rover is nearing the end of its Lac de Charmes exploration, but has not announced its next destination.
Source: primary
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