Perseverance, the most advanced Mars rover yet, successfully lands
The most advanced Mars rover yet, Perseverance, successfully landed on the red planet Thursday, sparking a big day for NASA and and potentially the future of space exploration.
The harrowing touchdown happened around 3:30 p.m. eastern time was broadcast live.
Put the rover in your living room
Want to recreate the landing in your own home or classroom? NASA's free app added an augmented reality feature that lets you use a mobile device's camera to display the rover and other NASA vehicles in your own space. You can put the rover on your couch, your desk or computer and then change the orientation of your camera to see it closer up, further away or walk around the rover. It provides the viewer an opportunity to see its many features close up.
- Download the free NASA app in your app store.
- Choose the bottom right hand box titled "Featured."
- In the Augmented Reality 3D Models section choose "Models." The Mars Perseverance Rover is in the list 21 items down.
How Perseverance furthers human space exploration
The space community and the world was watching as Perseverance landed on Mars, a feat that has historically been successful only 50% of the time.
Perserverance left earth July 30, 2020 and put down in the martian Jezero Crater, an area known to have been a river delta billions of years ago. Perseverance's main mission is to look for evidence of microbial life. On board are cutting edge instruments to detect organic matter, map chemical composition, take high quality photos from a distance, and a laser for rock cutting. Its drill is designed to cut core samples of rock about the size of a piece of chalk. This will help scientists learn more about Mars' geology and climate.
One of the rover's innovations is its ability to autonomously drive itself and make trajectory decisions without Earth engineers in control. This technology should allow the rover to cover a lot more ground while it's there. Nineteen cameras and a microphone are installed which, at certain points, will be active for all to see.
More about Perseverance rover:
- NASA's Perseverance rover nears touchdown on Mars this week after a 300-million-mile journey
- Mars rover faces 'seven minutes of terror' before it lands
The rover is expected to prepare for the possibility of human habitation of the red planet in two ways: First, an instrument will take Mars' carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and produce oxygen, a proof of concept for a future of making oxygen for breathing and for rocket propellant. Second, a suite of instruments will monitor weather, climate, surface ultraviolet radiation and dust.
More information is available on NASA's mission site, including a video trailer with an animation of the complicated landing process.
Contact April Barton at email@example.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.