As part of his mission, he will characterize the red planet’s geological vehicle and previous climate, and pave the way for man to explore Mars.
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover conducted its first campaign on the surface of Mars, covering 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) across the Martian surface. The drive was a mobility test that was just one of many milestones as team members inspect and calibrate each system, subsystem and tool for persistence. Once the rover begins to pursue its scientific targets, it is expected to regularly travel 656 feet (200 meters) or more.
“When it comes to vehicles with wheels on other planets, there are some unprecedented events that are just as important as steering,” said Anis Zarifyan, space vehicle mobility test engineer in March 2020 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Southern California. I. This was our first opportunity to “kick the tires” and put perseverance into the race. The six-wheel drive vehicle responded very well. Now we are confident that our traction system is good, capable of taking us wherever science takes us in the next two years “.
The trip took about 33 minutes, pushed the rover 4 meters forward, turned 150 degrees to the left and accelerated back 2.5 meters to its new temporary parking space. To help better understand the dynamics of a tail landing on the Red Planet, engineers used Perseverance’s navigation and hazard prevention cameras to film where Perseverance landed, dispersing Martian dust with plumes from its engines.
This is the main tool the scientific team will use to closely examine the geological properties of the Jezero crater, and then we will search for the elements they find most, added Robert Hogg, deputy director of the Rover’s Perseverance Mission in March 2020. When we received confirmation that the robotic arm is flexing its muscles, including pictures of her working beautifully after her long journey to Mars – well, she made my day. “
Since landing on Mars on February 18, the spacecraft has undergone several routine checks, including a software update, replacing the computer program that aided the persistent landing with one that NASA will use to analyze the planet.
All the while, the space agency said the spacecraft continues to send images of Mars using the most advanced set of cameras ever to travel to the red planet.
Justin Mackie, chief image engineer and image scientist at the Perseverance Mars 2020 rover at JPL, said: “All images of perseverance are transmitted either by the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter, the European Space Agency’s MAVEN, or the Space Odyssey. Mars, or Mars exploration. Orbit. They are important partners in our exploration and discovery. “
