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NASA’s Mars 2020 team reports that the Perseverance rover has spent 2026 exploring the ancient ‘Lac de Charmes’ area west of Jezero crater, abrading 13 rocks and encountering an unprecedented light-and-dark texture at a boulder nicknamed site ‘Idubi.’ A first sampling attempt on that boulder failed due to its hardness, and the rover is now examining a possible breccia outcrop called ‘Gardenia.’
NASA’s Perseverance rover has spent 2026 exploring some of the oldest rocks it has ever encountered in an area west of Jezero crater nicknamed “Lac de Charmes,” creating 13 abrasion patches and revealing rock textures unlike anything seen before on Mars, according to a mission update published by NASA Science on Sept. 28, 2026, and written by Thanos Klidaras, a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University and member of the Mars 2020 team. The update also confirms that an attempt to sample a uniquely textured boulder failed because the rock was too hard, and that the rover is now preparing to abrade a nearby outcrop nicknamed “Gardenia.”
The Lac de Charmes area is a terrain of valleys and ridges west of the Jezero crater rim that the team describes as a “wild west frontier” for the mission. According to the update, the rocks there are among the oldest Perseverance has encountered: they formed when Mars was a young planet being bombarded by asteroid impacts, long before the sedimentary rocks inside Jezero crater formed in rivers and lakes. The science team chose to explore this ancient terrain thoroughly before deciding which rocks to sample, and the rover followed a looping path between outcrops to build an understanding of how the region formed.
Across 2026, Perseverance created 13 abrasion patches — spots where the rover grinds away a rock’s weathered surface to expose fresh material for its instruments. The update reports that investigations so far suggest many of the rocks formed from cooled lava or magma (igneous rocks), while others formed in the aftermath of violent impacts (impactite rocks), and some show evidence of both processes.
Most recently, the team directed the rover to an area nicknamed “Idubi,” where hundreds of light-toned boulders were spotted from a distance. An abrasion patch on one of these boulders, named “Badger Peak,” revealed a light-and-dark texture that the team says is unlike any the rover has previously seen. A sampling attempt on that boulder was unsuccessful due to its high hardness, and the team is now searching for a similar rock elsewhere to sample. In the meantime, Perseverance has stopped at a nearby outcrop called “Gardenia,” which could be a breccia — a rock composed of fragments of many older rocks — and planned an abrasion this week.
The update also credits a new driving algorithm that repurposes a processor originally used to communicate with the Ingenuity helicopter, enabling longer and more accurate drives across the terrain.
Why These Ancient Rocks Matter
The Lac de Charmes rocks predate the lake-and-river sediments that Perseverance was originally sent to Jezero crater to study. Because they date to Mars’ earliest era, they could, according to the mission team, teach scientists about the earliest chapter of Martian history and, more broadly, about how rocky planets evolved during the turbulent early history of the solar system, when asteroid impacts were frequent.
The distinction between igneous and impact-origin rocks matters for the mission’s core goal of sample collection. Any samples sealed from this terrain would eventually be intended for return to Earth, where laboratory analysis could determine ages and compositions with a precision impossible from the rover alone. The failed Badger Peak sampling attempt shows the practical challenge: scientifically valuable rocks can be too hard for the rover’s drill, forcing the team to find alternatives.
The new driving algorithm is also a durable operational gain. Longer, more accurate autonomous drives extend how much ground Perseverance can cover for the remainder of its mission, a benefit that applies to whatever terrain comes next.
A Long Hiatus in Mission Updates
The update, titled “Mars Has Its Charmes,” marked the resumption of the Perseverance rover updates page after what the team described as “a long hiatus.” The page had gone quiet while the rover worked through the Lac de Charmes region, and the team says regular updates are now resuming.
Perseverance landed in Jezero crater in February 2021 with the primary goal of collecting samples of ancient rock and soil. Its early mission focused on the crater floor and the delta formed by an ancient river, where sedimentary rocks preserved evidence of past water. The Lac de Charmes campaign represents a shift to much older crust outside the crater, exploring terrain the team likens to a frontier before committing to sampling it.
The mention of the Ingenuity helicopter‘s processor reflects the rover’s adaptation since the small rotorcraft ended its flights in January 2024 after sustaining rotor damage. Hardware once dedicated to rover-helicopter communications has since been repurposed to improve Perseverance’s autonomous driving.
What Remains Unclear
Several findings remain interpretive rather than settled. The team says investigations “suggest” many rocks are igneous or impactite — this is a working classification, not a confirmed final determination, and some rocks show evidence of both processes. Whether the “Gardenia” outcrop is actually a breccia will not be known until the planned abrasion gives instruments a detailed look at fresh rock.
The composition of the Badger Peak boulder’s unusual light-and-dark texture has not been explained in the update, and it is unclear whether the team will find a similar, softer rock to sample before leaving the region. The update does not give a precise date for when Perseverance will depart Lac de Charmes or where it will head next. The article also does not state whether the Ingenuity repurposing algorithm has been quantitatively benchmarked — its effect is described qualitatively as producing longer and more accurate drives.
Gardenia Abrasion and the Search Onward
In the immediate term, Perseverance will abrade the “Gardenia” outcrop — the update says this was planned for the week of publication — to determine whether it is a breccia and to give the science team a detailed look at its composition. In parallel, the team will search for another light-toned boulder similar to Badger Peak that is soft enough to sample successfully.
Beyond that, the update states that Perseverance’s exploration of Lac de Charmes is nearing its end, and that the rover is preparing to move onward to new terrain. The team says regular updates to the mission page have now resumed, so further reports on sampling decisions and discoveries should follow in the coming weeks.
Key Questions
What is ‘Lac de Charmes’ on Mars?
It is a nickname for an area of valleys and ridges west of the Jezero crater rim that Perseverance has explored throughout 2026. According to the mission team, its rocks are among the oldest the rover has encountered, dating to an era when Mars was heavily bombarded by asteroid impacts.
Why did the sampling attempt at the ‘Badger Peak’ boulder fail?
The mission update states the boulder’s high hardness prevented a successful sample. The team is now looking for a similar light-toned rock elsewhere in the Idubi area that the rover’s drill can penetrate.
What is an abrasion patch?
It is a small area where Perseverance grinds away a rock’s outer, weathered surface to expose fresh material that its instruments can analyze in detail. The rover has created 13 abrasion patches in the Lac de Charmes area so far.
How is the Ingenuity helicopter still helping Perseverance?
According to the update, a new driving algorithm makes use of a processor originally used to communicate with the Ingenuity helicopter, enabling longer and more accurate autonomous drives for the rover.
Will samples from this ancient terrain be returned to Earth?
That is the intent of the mission’s sampling program — sealed tubes are collected for eventual return and laboratory analysis — but the update does not specify which Lac de Charmes rocks will be sampled, and any Mars sample return depends on future mission planning and funding.
Source: primary
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