NASA's Perseverance Rover Has Successfully Landed on Mars
Surviving the ‘seven minutes of terror.’
NASA has done it! The space agency has succeeded in landing the United States’ fifth rover on Mars. The entire ordeal was streamed live where the Perseverance went through its final phase to reach the Red Planet from Entry, Descent, and Landing phases – also known as the seven minutes of terror.
Once confirmed of its landing, the Perseverance team over at NASA let out a huge cheer over their computer monitors. Now that the rover has successfully landed, the 2,260-pound machine — NASA’s biggest, heaviest, cleanest, and most sophisticated six-wheeled robot ever launched into space — can freely roam the Jezero Crater to collect samples from the once water-rich river delta.
On top of the rover, NASA will also be conducting the first-ever flight on a foreign planet using the Ingenuity helicopter. The Perseverance now joins the Curiosity Rover which landed in 2012. China’s Tianwen-1 is also expected to land in May, marking the second country to ever land on the Red Planet.
Touchdown confirmed. The #CountdownToMars is complete, but the mission is just beginning. pic.twitter.com/UvOyXQhhN9
— NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021
I’m safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere.
#CountdownToMars— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021
In other tech news, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 fails to land after bringing 60 satellites into orbit.
