PERSEVERANCE LANDS ON MARS!
“No one is to disturb me,” Verum warned as she entered the dorm room and took out her crystal ball. Her voice was filled with excitement. On February 18, 2021, NASA’s rover, Perseverance, successfully landed in the Jezero crater on Mars. Verum wished to see the historic event. But the three Mysticals did the exact opposite and squeezed in right next to Verum!
“We want to watch it too!” Verum laughed and made room for her friends.
“Before we begin, Orak, can you tell us more about the NASA mission?” Felix replied.
“Absolutely!” Orak replied.
“NASA’s Mars 2020 mission was launched on July 30, 2020. The mission included sending a rover named Perseverance to explore the red planet. It took Perseverance seven months to complete the 292-million-mile journey and land in the Jezero crater of Mars. Perseverance has carried along a small helicopter named Ingenuity. It will help Perseverance explore the planet better.”
A rover is a space robot used to explore the surface of planets and other space bodies. A crater is a large bowl-shaped hole in the ground of planets, natural satellites such as our moon, or other space bodies.
“Oh, is it the same mission that was described as ‘landing of terror’?” Scorch remembered it vaguely.
Orak explained, “The entry, descent, and landing of every Mars mission rover is described as ‘seven minutes of terror’. It is because these events take place faster than the radio signals reach us on earth!”
He continued, “The Perseverance rover had to go through its own ‘seven minutes of terror’ landing. It was traveling at a fast speed of 12,100 miles per hour (which is super duper fast) and slowed down after entering the Martian sky so it could land safely.”
“Interesting,” Scorch noted. But she had many more questions, “Orak, why was Jezero crater chosen for landing?”
“Jezero crater on Mars is a 45 km wide crater. Jezero also means ‘lake’. The crater was once a lake. One of the most important missions of the Perseverance rover is to look for evidence of past life on Mars. Scientists believe that they would find the evidence in the rocks and soil samples of the Jezero crater,” Orak replied.
“Oh, it’s about to land,” Verum gripped Scorch’s hand in excitement.
“Touchdown successful!” Verum exclaimed as the Mysticals cheered.
