NASA’s Perseverance landed safely and on Time on Mars Thursday (Feb. 18) at 3:55 p.m. EST, marking another success for NASA.
The nuclear-powered rover underwent a thrilling landing that some engineers described as “seven minutes of terror” because it involved a parachute, a powered landing and an “aerial crane” that brought the “Trailblazer was gently lowered to a challenging, rocky area on the surface of Mars.
After confirming a safe landing, the rover’s mission control center erupted in applause and cheers.
NASA has now sent 10 rovers to the red planet, nine of which have landed successfully.
“Another round of applause erupted from mission control as Trailblazer sent back a black-and-white image from the Martian surface minutes after landing.
The rover is equipped with a microphone and should record during the landing.
“Perseverance and the helicopter-like Ingenuity drone that accompanied it began their 300-million-mile journey last July. “Ingenuity will test whether it can fly with power in the thin Martian atmosphere.
“With six wheels, Trailblazer is similar to the other four rovers that have landed on Mars before. The landing site of “Trail” is Jezero Crater (Jezero Crater). It is believed to be an ancient lake bed that may be the source of ancient Life remains.
The primary goal of the two-year mission is to determine if there was ever life on Mars.
NASA plans to retrieve these samples during another Mars landing mission sometime in the early 2030s.
Before collecting the samples, NASA will spend the next few weeks making sure that the Trailblazer’s systems are functioning properly.
People can follow the progress of the “Trail” through its Twitter account.
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