Perserverance Mars rover captured a photo on 18 February 2021 of its own platform falling on the surface of Mars and removing a lump of smoke. Image through NASA.
One of the coldest images we’ve seen from Perseverance on Mars so far came from the day it landed successfully, February 18, 2021. Minutes after landing, Perseverance took a look at the speed and image of the his own descendant level to catch an accident landing on the surface of Mars.
What is the level of descent? His career in landing Perseverance was short-lived, but crucial. The descent rate is the area with rocket power that will be used after the parachute. It was needed in part because Mars’ atmosphere is so thin that paratroopers can’t be sure they’re soft enough. The descent rate kept the rover stable just above the surface of Mars, as the rover was sent to the surface of Mars through cables. The descent was not designed to land safely. After using the rover, he traveled some distance and fell himself. That is what Perseverance captured in this image.
A busy perseverance on Mars explores its surroundings and records what it sees. He shares his findings with an anthropomorphized – and adorable – Twitter account @NASAPersevere. His tweet about the landing rate crash was one of the first.
A moment of respect for the level of descent. Within two minutes of my safe delivery to the surface of Mars, I caught the fog plug on one of my Hazcams from its deliberate impact on the surface – an action that protected me and the scientific integrity of my landing site. pic.twitter.com/bG4dekrbvJ
– Marsever Perseverance NASA (@NASAPersevere) February 24, 2021
Concept of an artist depicting Perseverance landing on Mars, via NASA.
As you may have heard from this – or you may have realized – Mars is the only known planet in which there are robots! A total of 18 spacecraft were orbited around Mars, eight of which are still in operation. Of the Mars rovers sent to the surface of Mars, five are still in operation: Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Sustainability.
One Mars orbiter, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, also captured permanence on the surface of Mars, at the point where it landed. He found the rover and the pieces peeled by offspring, then tweeted an image:
There you are @NASAPersevere! I finally got the chance to take a photo of you in your new home? #CountdownToMars
? @ExoMars_CaSSIS https://t.co/Zl2FhZ2Z8q #ExploreFarther #Mars pic.twitter.com/1CoOrs1r1S– ExoMars orbiter (@ESA_TGO) February 25, 2021
The rover is near the center of the image, with the round dark spot heat shield on the top right, the descent level on the left (and in the plug picture above), and the white parachute and the bright back shell on the top left. You can see from the view above the large ridge between the rover and the descent level that the rover is looking towards in the image above.
Since 1960, nine countries have either sent orbits to Mars or attempted to land on its surface, many of which have literally collapsed and burned.
Three missions in February 2021 to Mars, both in orbit and on the surface, were successful. Perseverance was one. The other two were the UAE Hope mission and Tianwen-1 in China.
Many spaceships have attempted to land on Mars, few have succeeded. Image via Al Jazeera.
Bottom line: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover printed a picture of the mast of smoke that erupted at the descent stage.
