CAPA CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – A NASA rover traversed the Martian orange sky and landed on the planet on Thursday, taking the most risky step so far in an epic quest to bring back stones that could answer if life ever existed on Mars.
Ground controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the Pasadena, California space agency cheered and exchanged punches and high-fives in triumph – and relief – upon receiving confirmation that the six-wheeled Perseverance had hit the red planet. long a death trap for the received spaceship.
It took 11 and a half minutes of voltage until the signal reached Earth.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safe on the surface of Mars, ready to start looking for signs of the past, “said flight controller Swati Mohan, who slapped his colleagues who were wearing masks against the coronavirus.
The landing marks the third visit to Mars in just over a week. Two spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates and China launched into orbit around Mars in successive days last week. All three missions took off in July to take advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars, traveling about 300 million miles in almost seven months.
Perseverance, the largest and most advanced rover ever sent by NASA, became the ninth spacecraft to successfully land on Mars, each in the United States.
The car-sized vehicle, powered by plutonium, reached the Jezero crater, hitting NASA’s smallest and most difficult target so far: a 5-kilometer strip on an old river delta full of potholes, rocks and rock fields. . Scientists believe that if life ever flourished on Mars, it would have happened 3 billion to 4 billion years ago, when water was still flowing on the planet.
For the next two years, Percy, as he is nicknamed, will use his 2-meter arm to drill holes and collect rock samples with possible signs of past microscopic life. Three to four dozen chalk-sized samples will be sealed in tubes and set aside on Mars to be retrieved by a rover and brought home by another rocket ship. The goal is to bring them back to Earth by 2031.
Scientists hope to answer one of the central questions of theology, philosophy and space exploration.
“Are we alone in this vast cosmic desert, do we just fly through space, or is life much more ordinary? Does it only appear whenever and wherever conditions are ripe? Said project deputy scientist Ken Williford. “We are really on the verge of being able to potentially answer these huge questions.”
China’s spacecraft includes a smaller rover, which will also look for evidence of life – whether it will arrive safely from orbit in May or June.
Perseverance was on its own during the descent described by NASA “seven minutes of terror.”
Flight controllers waited helplessly as the preprogrammed spacecraft struck the thin atmosphere of 95% Martian carbon dioxide at 19,500 km / h, or 16 times the speed of sound, slowing as it slowed.
He launched his 21-meter parachute, dropped his thermal shield, and then used a rocket-guided platform known as a sky crane to lower the rover’s last 60 meters (18 meters) to the surface. Perseverance seemed to reach about 35 meters from the nearest rocks.
“Take this, Jezero!” a controller called.
Mars proved to be a treacherous place: in less than three months since 1999, an American spacecraft was destroyed as it entered orbit because engineers had mixed metric and English units, and an American lander crashed on Mars after its engines were interrupted prematurely.
Perseverance will conduct an experiment in which it will convert small amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into oxygen, a process that could be an advantage for future astronauts by providing breathable air and an ingredient for missile fuel.
The rover is also equipped with a record 25 cameras and two microphones, many of them turned on during the descent. Among the views never seen before, NASA plans to send them in the next few days: the huge supersonic parachute that opens and the ground approaches.
“A feast for the eyes and ears. It’s going to be really spectacular, ”said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, a senior scientist for a pair of masted rooms that will serve as eyes for the rover.
NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to bring the stones home. The mission of perseverance alone costs almost $ 3 billion.
The only way to confirm – or rule out – the signs of the past life is to analyze samples from the best laboratories in the world. Instruments small enough to be sent to Mars would not have the necessary accuracy.
“It really is the most extraordinary, complicated mind and it will be a historical exploration campaign,” said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency, on the eve of landing.
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