NASA, the U.S. Aeronautics and Space Administration, has shared important news from Mars. NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring the bottom of Crater Lake for three and a half years, and on Tuesday, August 27, it began a long climb toward the western rim.

The rover will climb 305 meters (1,000 feet) to the crater’s rim to collect rock samples. Since landing on the Red Planet in 2021, Perseverance has collected 22 rock samples from the floor of a crater that was once filled with water. Perseverance must overcome rocky terrain and slopes (up to 23 degrees) during the months-long journey.

Samples from the rover could help scientists piece together what the planet’s climate was like billions of years ago and learn whether ancient Martian life existed. The rock on the crater’s rim could provide clues to how rocky planets like Mars and Earth formed, said Stephen Lee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The start of the ascent marks the start of the rover’s fifth scientific campaign since landing. To date, Perseverance has covered more than 18 miles (29 kilometers) of the Martian surface. Its next stop should be a place called Fort Dox (named after the American summit in the Grand Canyon).