"Steadfast pursuit of an aim."

Success.

After almost seven months in space, Perseverance made a successful landing on Mars today. no doubt to the relief and happiness of everyone who attended Planetfest '21 last weekend.  (With the possible exception of Joe O'Rourke.)

The current light speed time lag of just over 12 minutes to Mars* meant that Mission Control on Earth was just a spectator during the often-cited “seven minutes of terror” -  the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phase of the mission, which starts 125 kms above the Martian surface.

Perseverance utilized the same landing technology used for the successful 2012 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) landing, which was the first guided landing on Mars.  When Perseverance entered the Martian atmosphere, it relied on its heat shield for the first part of the Descent stage, after which it deployed a 21-meter parachute to further reduce its speed, and separated from the heat shield. As the parachute slowed down the lander, it used the Terrain Relative Navigation System pioneered by the MSL mission to search for its landing location by comparing the surface below it to visuals of the Martian surface.

The lander detached from the parachute and the protective backshell when it was about two kilometers from the surface, and began its powered descent.  At about 20 meters, the Skycrane section of the module separated from the rover itself, and slowly lowered Perseverance to a successful soft landing in Jezero Crater with all systems functional.

And now the work begins...

- Sid

 

*As introduced to the general public during the conversations between Mark Watney and Mission Control in The Martian.  The delay varies from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the relative orbital positions of Earth and Mars.