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Published image, image copyrightNASA / JPL-CALTECH
The Preserve navigation mast has been raised to the upright position for the first time since the spacecraft launched from the ground
US space agency NASA has released stunning video captured by cameras on the Preservation Rover spacecraft as it landed on the surface of Mars.
The videos included the final minutes of the spacecraft’s spectacular landing, until its robot wheels touched the surface of the planet.
Videos showed a rising dust vortex and flying pebbles as the spacecraft and missile carrying it approached the surface of Mars near Jezero Crater.
The Perseverance spacecraft was sent to Mars, filled with cameras, seven of which were intended to film the landing on the surface of the Red Planet.
Mike Watkins, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which is used as the central operating room for missions to Mars, said the awe-inspiring videos were an example of the best the agency could do.
“We took everyone with us on our travels around the solar system, through Saturn’s orbits, reminiscent of the pale blue point, and the amazing panoramas of Mars. This is the first time that we can take pictures of an event such as the landing of a spacecraft on Mars, ”he added.
He added: “We’ll learn something by looking at the performance of the vehicle that appears in this video. But the gist of it will guide you on the journey.”
All cameras used for landing photography were of the sporty type available in the market which exhibited great rigidity without making significant adjustments.
The cameras were placed in specific locations to photograph the main parts of the vehicle’s components, from the launch of the parachute which flies at supersonic speed, to the removal of the heat shield from an inlet capsule and the journey made by the missile that carried the craft through space.
The important snapshots lasted four minutes out of a total of seven minutes it took to land on Mars.
“We got 30 gigabytes of information in addition to 23,000 photos of the spacecraft as it landed on Mars,” said Dave Growell, who managed the cameras at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
One of the three cameras aimed at the parachutes was malfunctioning, but the other six cameras were still functioning properly. NASA had hoped for success in recording the sound of the landing through a microphone, but unfortunately it did not work.
Published image, image copyrightNASA / JPL-Caltech
Preservation spacecraft is equipped with seven other cameras, instruments and microphones
Nonetheless, the team managed to get a microphone to work on the surface of Mars, which should allow the sound of the Perseverance rover to be heard while carrying out its exploration missions in the coming weeks. A muffled wind was also heard at Jizero Crater.
NASA had previously filmed videos on Mars, but they were of poor quality, appearing as “stopped moving” footage. In contrast, the video clips taken on the vehicle with the Perseverance surprised everyone with the level of clarity and precision of the details.
“I get goosebumps every time I look at her,” Gruel said.
Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory continue to use the vehicle’s mission-oriented robot.
Last weekend, the Preserve’s navigation mast was lifted upright for the first time, having been folded into a horizontal position since the spacecraft launched from the ground last year.
The lifting of the navigation mast allowed the operation of the “MasterCam-Z system” for the cameras intended for scientific purposes installed therein, so that the imaging system began to take panoramic photos of the area around. of the Jezero crater and the surface of the vehicle itself. The purpose of photographing the surface of the vehicle in the form of panoramic shots to discover the damage that the vehicle may have suffered when landing by flying stones.
The control team is ready to take on a difficult task this week of switching from software used to perform a safe landing of the vehicle on Mars to software that allows the robot to move around and use various equipment such as the robotic arm of the vehicle.
Published image, NASA / JPL-CALTECH
The rover captured the clearest videos of the Martian surface
This process is expected to take four sols, or what is called “Soul” (one Martian day equals 24 hours and 39 minutes). At the end of next week we may be able to see the first test drive of several meters that the vehicle will take after running with the new software.
There is great interest in the miniature helicopter that traveled with the spacecraft, because this 2 kilogram instrument is expected to make the first flight out of the planet.
But before that, Preservation must first get to the right place to place the aircraft for testing. The planners for that space mission said last Friday that the vehicle operating robot could take several weeks to reach the most suitable location to launch the miniature plane, suggesting the small helicopter they call ” Ingenity, “might not fly high. until next April.
The Preserve spacecraft has landed at a site that takes on a quadrilateral shape that scientists responsible for this space mission have called “Canyon de Chile,” which is the name of a major national sanctuary in the US state of Arizona.
The vehicle operating robot is on a flat area of the Martian surface between two different geological units; The first has a smooth surface with the vehicle’s wheels resting on what appears to be dark volcanic rocks, while the second geologic unit is more rugged and filled with rocks topped with lots of mineral olivine.
And about 2 kilometers northwest of the landing site, there is what appears, according to satellite images, to be the remains of a delta that formed when a giant lake filled the Jezero crater there. billions of years ago.
The delta forms when rivers enter a larger area and are intercepted by water, with amounts of silt and sand deposited. Preservance will look in these sediments for signs of bacterial activity in the past.
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