Relief at NASA: The “persevering” rover lands on Mars

NASA cheers: Six months into the flight, the “persevering” spacecraft has landed on Mars. It is said to remain for several years, looking for traces of past microbial life. Climate and geology are also for research.

The Mars rover “persevering” has successfully landed on the red planet. “The landing has been confirmed,” Swati Mohan, director of operations, said in a live broadcast of the US space agency “NASA”. Cheers erupted at the Control Center in Pasadena, California.

The rover entered the Martian atmosphere about seven minutes ago. Then a landing parachute opened, and I cast a heat shield: the speed slowed even more, and the “perseverance” finally landed in a dry lake called “Jezero Crater” that was never examined on site.

Seven minutes of horror

The landing maneuver was very complicated. NASA has already talked about “Seven Minutes of Horror.” Shortly thereafter, the first black and white image of Mars’ surface taken by “Perseverance” was published.

A small helicopter “ingenuity” flies with you

The spacecraft will spend several years researching traces of past microbial life on Mars and researching geology and climate. The rover contains a two-meter robotic arm in addition to 19 cameras and two microphones.

In addition, “Perseverance” is bringing a small, ultra-light “creative” helicopter to Mars, which will be the first aircraft to fly on an alien planet. This is a particular challenge because the Martian atmosphere is only 1% of the density of Earth’s atmosphere.

It weighs just 1.8 kg and consists of four feet, a rocket and two propellers. Creativity is equipped with four solar panels to recharge its batteries. A large portion of the energy is required to heat up the aircraft again after nighttime temperatures of below 90 degrees.

“Perseverance” is the fifth spacecraft to be brought to Mars.