NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully lands on Mars
News | Darwin Co
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Mars 2020 “Perseverance” rover successfully landed earlier today at 4:55 am, Philippine Standard Time (PST).
NASA’s fifth Mars rover finally touched down on the Red Planet following a seven-month long journey since its successful launch powered by the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket last July 30, 2020 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
“You know, you just got a chance to watch this team do one of the hardest things we do in our business which is to land a spacecraft on the planet Mars,” said Matt Wallace, Perseverance deputy project manager, during the post-landing press conference.
Perseverance made its landing in the Jezero Crater on Mars. Jezero, discovered by NASA’s previous missions, is a basin believed to once have an ancient river flowed into a lake and deposited sediments in a fan shape known as a delta, which could have potentially preserved signs of ancient microbial life, for which Perseverance is tasked to explore.
The rover executed its EDL (Entry, Descent, and Landing) procedures perfectly and slowed down from 20,000 kph until it was stationary on Mars in just seven short minutes. At exactly 4:55 am PST, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the team responsible for the mission, announced the rover’s successful landing.
“This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally — when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks,” said acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk.
NASA’s most ambitious Mars mission
The Mars 2020 mission is only the first step in NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign which aims to bring back Martian rock samples to Earth for scientists to study. It serves to deepen understanding of Mars and advance efforts to potentially bring humans to the Red Planet.
“Perseverance is the first step in bringing back rock and regolith from Mars. We don’t know what these pristine samples from Mars will tell us. But what they could tell us is monumental — including that life might have once existed beyond Earth.” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA.
Perseverance aims to answer questions in astrobiology as it is tasked to look for habitable environments, seek signs of ancient microbial life, and collect and store samples of rock and soil on Mars. For the first time ever, the rover is equipped with a drill for coring samples from rocks and soil which can be stored in tubes and cached at designated locations on the Martian surface. This mission is set to run for at least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days). Together with the European Space Agency, NASA shall then subsequently launch a Sample Retrieval Lander mission and an Earth Return Orbiter mission in the latter half of the decade to bring these samples back to Earth as early as 2031.
With its all-new Terrain-Relative Navigation system, Perseverance is NASA’s largest and most powerful Mars rover yet. The rover, measuring around three meters long, 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall and weighing 1,025 kilograms will have the most autonomy on the surface than any other rover and can easily comprehend its location and modify its path. Equipped with 23 powerful cameras including the SuperCam that can examine chemical composition of rocks with lasers and spectrometers and the Mastcam-Z that can zoom in, focus, and take 3D pictures and videos at high speed, Perseverance will undoubtedly be able to provide never before seen detailed imaging of the Martian surface.
The rover also carries seven advanced instruments that will be used in conducting unprecedented surface operations on Mars. SHERLOC, which can detect organic matter and minerals in rocks, and PIXL, which can map fine-scale elemental composition of surface materials will allow Perseverance to search for potential signs of past life on Mars. Furthermore, MOXIE will attempt to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide found in Mars’ atmosphere. If deemed successful, this demonstration could potentially be used in future human exploration of Mars for creating rocket propellants and for breathing.
What’s next for Perseverance?
Following its successful landing, the rover will be expected to begin executing surface operations. However, before that, project engineers and scientists will first have to test the health of the rover and check the condition of all of its instruments for the next few weeks. They will begin “unwrapping the rover” and deploy its remote sensing mast, explained Jennifer Trosper, Perseverance deputy project manager, during NASA’s post-landing press conference. Afterwards, the rover will start exploring and mapping out its potential course over the Martian terrain.
NASA also said that they will begin to receive more data and images from the rover and will soon reveal more footage and audio recordings of the rover landing to the public.
“We hope that we will get some ‘thumbnail movies’ of some of the EDL camera images so that (we will have the) front row seat at entry, descent, and landing,” said Trosper. Furthermore, Wallace revealed that they will be working on the first video product of the landing during the weekend and bringing that to the next press conference on Tuesday.
Another thing to anticipate is the first test flight of “Ingenuity.” Attached to the belly of Perseverance is NASA’s first Mars helicopter. It is a one-of-a-kind technological demonstration to test the first-ever powered flight on Mars. Ingenuity, created by JPL, will not support the Mars 2020 mission and will only be used for experimental test flights in Mars’ thin atmosphere. It is set to attempt up to five test flights within a 30-Martian-day (31-Earth-day) demonstration window. If proven successful, Ingenuity could begin a wave of powered flight vehicles in future missions.
Other Mars missions
NASA’s Perseverance is not the only Mars mission that has landed this month. Last February 9, the United Arab Emirates’ first Mars mission, the “Hope” probe, reached and entered the Red Planet’s orbit, which officially made the country’s space agency the fifth to reach the planet. Its mission is to develop UAE’s scientific and technological capabilities and to reduce its reliance on oil.
Furthermore, on February 10, China’s “Tianwen-1” spacecraft also entered Mars’ orbit in the country’s first independent mission. Its orbiter will join the Hope probe and six other orbiters in surveying the Martian atmosphere and gathering data. China will also anticipate its attempt in landing a capsule from Tianwen-1 which houses its Mars rover in May or June of this year. Once landed, the rover will similarly explore the Martian terrain and study its rocks and soil to find signs of life. All these missions aim to ultimately send humans to the Red Planet by the next century.
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