Excited engineers unveiled new “fantastic” images from Rover’s Perseverance on Mars Friday, including a dramatic photo from above showing the six-wheeled robot descending to the surface of Jezero Crater from its rocket backpack.
Another image, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, when it flew over the landing site during Thursday’s descent, showed the flying saucer-shaped aerospace of Perseverance suspended under the rover’s parachute in the background. Crater Lake.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
first color image from the surface it was also displayed, by the kindness of a hazard avoidance chamber, or “hazcam”, mounted just below the body of Perseverance, showing a clear view of the ground strewn with rubble where the rover touched.
For Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance mission and the man who managed the descent of the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012, the image of Perseverance suspended from above was nothing more than inspirational.
“The team is overwhelmed with enthusiasm and joy that another rover has successfully landed on Mars,” he said.
Featuring iconic images from the triumphs of past space, from astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing on the moon to the Hubble Space Telescope. “The pillars of creation“and a spectacular image of the ringed Saturn, Steltzner said:” We can only hope … that we will one day be able to contribute another iconic image to this collection. “
NASA / JPL-Caltech
“I hope we can do that today,” he said, revealing the shot of Perseverance from above. “There are these fantastic images that we had the chance to take and still bring down from the surface … and we hope to be able to see them in the coming days.”
Perseverance landing On Thursday, it completed a seven-month journey from Earth, covering 293 million miles.
The final stage of the journey and by far the riskiest since launch, it has been a seven-minute descent from the top of the Martian atmosphere to the floor of Jezero Crater using a supersonic parachute, new hazard avoidance systems, and the rocket-propelled descent stage that lowered the rover to touch.
“I’m glad to say that the rover is doing great and is healthy on the surface of Mars,” said Pauline Hwang, assistant strategic mission manager.
The dramatic maneuver of the “sky crane” brought Perseverance to the surface in a region known as Canyon de Chelly, just beyond a vast delta formation that extends from the edge of Jezero Crater. The Delta is made up of deposits brought by a river that once cut a channel at the edge of the crater.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona
Perseverance will study the deposits on the Jezero floor and delta, collecting samples of rock and soil that could reveal the presence of “biosignatures”, remnants of past microbial life. NASA is working with the European Space Agency on plans to recover evidence by the end of this decade and return it to Earth for analysis.
“To say that the Perseverance science team is thrilled that this rover is safe on Mars is an understatement,” said Katie Stack Morgan, the project’s deputy scientist. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for years. And we’re finally here.”
But first, engineers plan to spend a few weeks activating the rover’s communications systems, updating its computer software, checking its scientific instruments, deploying and testing the robot’s arm, and releasing a small helicopter to test the flight’s feasibility in the atmosphere. thin martial.
Over the weekend, engineers plan to lift Perseverance’s remote sensing mast so that high-resolution cameras can capture panoramic views of the rover’s upper body and its immediate surroundings in the Jezero appraiser. The software update, a four-day process, is expected to take place later next week.
Meanwhile, new images of the rover’s dramatic descent and possibly videos are expected until Monday, when NASA plans another news briefing.