JUST A BIT OF PERSEVERANCE

The Mars 2020 rover’s landing and adventures have excited us all, and there’s more to come. TORY

SHEPHERD talks with the Australians involved.

Much of what NASA’S achieving through the Mars 2020 mission – including the historic flights of tiny helicopter Ingenuity – will likely inform future explorations. As Perseverance continues to beam news and views back from Mars, TORY SHEPHERD reports on what’s at stake, and the Australians who are part of the Mars 2020 team.

Master and apprentice, Perseverance took this April 6 selfie with Ingenuity after deploying the tiny aircraft.

This image itself speaks of the mission’s technological wonder: it’s 62 individual frames stitched together, captured with a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and engineering) located at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, which ends up out of the picture when the mosaic is assembled.