Perseverance rolls on the ground of Mars for the first time

As part of its mission, the rover would characterize the past geology and climate of the Red Planet and pave the way for human exploration of Mars.

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover made its first trip to Mars, covering 6.5 meters across the Martian landscape. The reader served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members verify and calibrate every system, subsystem and instrument on Perseverance. Once the rover begins to pursue its science goals, regular journeys extending 200 meters (656 feet) or more are expected.

Anais Zarifian, engineer for the Perseverance Mars 2020 rover’s mobility test bench at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said: “When it comes to wheeled vehicles on other planets, there are has few events for the first time to match that of the first practice. It was our first chance to ‘kick the tires’ and get Perseverance going. The rover’s six-wheel drive responded superbly. We are now confident that our training system is ready to go, capable of taking us where science takes us over the next two years.

The ride, which lasted about 33 minutes, propelled the rover forward 13 feet (4 meters), where it then turned in place 150 degrees to the left and backed up 8 feet (2.5 meters). in its new temporary parking space. To help better understand the dynamics of a retroreflective landing on the Red Planet, engineers used Perseverance’s navigation and hazard avoidance cameras to imagine where Perseverance landed, scattering Martian dust with the plumes of its engines.

Robert Hogg, deputy mission director of the Perseverance Mars 2020 rover, added: “The first robotic arm test was a big moment for us. This is the main tool that the science team will use to do a thorough examination of the geological features of Jezero Crater, and then we will drill and sample the ones they find most interesting. When we got confirmation that the robotic arm was flexing its muscles, including footage of it working wonderfully after its long trip to Mars – well, that made my day.

Since landing on Mars on February 18, the rover has undergone several routine checks, including a software update, replacing the computer program that helped land Perseverance with one that NASA will use to analyze the planet.

All the while, the space agency said the rover continues to send images of Mars using the most advanced camera suite ever seen on the Red Planet.

Justin Maki, chief imagery engineer and imagery researcher for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL, said: “Every image from Perseverance is relayed either by the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter or by MAVEN, Mars Odyssey or Mars Reconnaissance from NASA. Orbit. They are important partners in our explorations and discoveries.