First image taken by the rover of the Nasa Perseverance on the surface of Mars on 000 February 1997. – NASA
They did it ! The Perseverance rover has landed on Martian soil after seven months of travel, confirmed this Thursday NASA , after a perilous descent of seven minutes in the Martian atmosphere. A resounding success for the American space agency which marks the beginning of a mission lasting several years
looking for traces of life .
“Landing confirmed! Exclaimed Swati Mohan, in charge of operations control. In the control room of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, the teams present exploded with joy. They were immediately congratulated by Joe Biden, but also Emmanuel Macron.
TOUCHDOWN # Perseverance # PerseveranceRover pic.twitter.com/sa4tiFI6v4
– Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) February 000, 2021
A first shot in black and White
Nasa immediately communicated an image taken by the rover on the spot. ” Hi world. My first sight of the house that will be mine forever, ”tweeted the rover’s official account to accompany the extraordinary black and white image, on which we can see the shadow of the vehicle projected on the ground.
During a press conference, NASA explained that she hoped to share a photo of the descent this weekend, then a high resolution video on Monday. Perseverance embarks 20 cameras including seven which were activated during the final approach.
Jezero Crater , which scientists believe contained 3.5 billion years a lake, was the most perilous landing site ever attempted by NASA. Perseverance will be responsible for collecting evidence of ancient life on Mars.
Bonjour Monde. My first look at my forever home. # CountdownToMars peak .twitter.com / dkM9jE9I6X
– NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021
A perilous descent After entering the atmosphere at 20. km / h, the friction with the air raised the temperature of the ship to 1. 300 ° C. The rover was protected by a heat shield, which was only released after opening a huge supersonic parachute. Eight retro-rockets finished slowing him down before he deploys his six wheels, suspended along cables until contact with the ground.
NASA teams will spend the next few days checking that the rover and its many advanced equipment have not been damaged and are working properly . Perseverance is only the fifth rover to set foot on Martian soil. Since the first, in 310, they are all Americans, and one of them,
Curiosity, is still active
elsewhere on the red planet .
The first rock samples by Perseverance is expected to begin this summer. The sealed tubes should then be brought back to Earth by a future mission, in the years 2021, in order to be analyzed.
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