The excitement of NASA’s Perseverance rover touching down on Mars continues with National Geographic’s on the account. In what is another historical moment, National Geographic is offering users one of the first opportunities to be the Perseverance rover through this brand-new Mars AR activation, which offers an immersive 360 look at the panorama from the robot’s point of view (and even lets you take a selfie with the rover!).

Through this new activation, Instagram users can expect to truly become one with the rover, seeing through its eyes, observing its first panorama, searching for ancient signs of life on the red planet, and operating its extremities.

To increase the accuracy of the immersive experience, National Geographic collaboratedwith NASA on the Mars AR activation, consulting scientists and engineers who worked to design and build the rover, including Roger Weins (SUPERCAM), Christina Diaz (PIXL), and Jim Bell (Mastcam-Z).

You can check out directions on how to access the interactive and view select National Geographic visuals. (PLEASE NOTE: All mandatory usage requirements must be met). This is National Geographic’s fourth Spark AR project. To see others, search for,, and the.

The Mars AR activation follows the launch of National Geographic’s March issue, which explores our fascination with the red planet, and includes an incredible, available online at the National Geographic space hub,. 

Follow on Twitter for continued rover content and updates, including a pinned Mars Perseverance Mission Twitter thread providing coverage and updates of the February 18 Mars rover landing, featuring tweets from @NASA.