NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover uses wind sensor as health studies follow- Technology News, Firstpost

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tech2 Staff NewsMar 04, 2021 13:59:12 IST

A fortnight since a rub down widely on Mars, NASA’s sustainability rover continues to find its way and stretch its several ‘arms’ on the Red Planet. Since landing Feb. 18, the rover team has been doing a battery of tests on all seven of their science instruments, and started using the ones that work. In the latest practice, Perseverance installed its windshield sensor, as seen in photos captured by the onboard navigation cameras.

NASA Persver Rover Mars rover using wind sensor as health checks continue

The Perseverance rover’s navigation cameras show the wind sensor in use. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

The wind sensor is one of the instruments that is part of a weather monitoring test on the rover called the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA). The sensor collects data on air temperature, humidity, radiation, dust and wind around the rover, which is currently parked at its landing site – the Jezero Crater, a 45-km wide descent in the rover. land thought to have once been home to an ancient lake and river delta.

The High Resolution Image Test (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter saw Perseverance at the landing site, six days after landing and in the process of system studies.

Perseverance Rover and the Jezero Crater around it, as seen by HiRISE on February 24th. Image credit: HiRISE: Elegant Mars / Twitter

Perseverance Rover and the Jezero Crater around it, as seen by HiRISE on February 24th. Image credit: HiRISE: Elegant Mars / Twitter

From the perspective of the orbiter more than 250 kilometers away in orbit, it appears that the earth beneath Percy’s wheels is a loose, dark, lighter material beneath. The bright zones are visible on either side of the rover, possibly “clearly scratched by the leveling rockets” at the time of descent, as per recitation on the HiRISE website.

At the end of February, ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter shared another overview of the rover and the components after its descent, traversing the surface of the Red Planet. The Perseverance rover is seen in images as a relatively weak spot next to a ridge connecting to one of the smallest nearby pits.

Ingenuity: The first ‘big job’ of a perseverance rover

Perseverance’s first big task is to find an airfield where her buddy can take off a small helicopter, according to her Space.com report. Rulers got a mission the first status report from Ingenuity Mars helicopter attached to the rover’s belly, hours after it landed. Innovation will be tied to the rover for the coming weeks, NASA had said in a statement at the time. As long as Ingenuity lasts the upcoming frigid Martian nights, where temperatures drop to lows of 90 degrees Celsius, the mission team will proceed with the first flight on another plane in another world.

If Ingenuity manages to land successfully and be proactive, NASA can send four fans, “each building on the success of the latter,” the group said. This descendant of Ingenuity rotorcraft can bring an aerial feature to the study of Mars.

Read also: ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter, NASA’s HiRISE get amazing views of Perseverance rover on Mars

NASA shares video, audio of Perseverance Mars landing

An ingenious helicopter reports in

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