NASA releases dramatic video, images of Mars
Camera system aboard spacecraft operated by ASU scientists, engineers and students
NASA released dramatic video Monday that shows the Perseverance rover descending 7 miles to the surface of Mars as the spacecraft’s engines kick up the red Martian dust just before landing.
Several cameras captured the spacecraft from different angles, beginning with the deployment of the largest parachute sent to another planet. A microphone attached to the rover also captured the first surface sounds from the Red planet where a Martian breeze can be heard for a few seconds.
NASA engineers and scientists spent the weekend pouring over the videos and images following Thursday’s landing, with their reactions described as overjoyed, giddy and “like kids in a candy store.”
“You can spend all day looking through these videos and some of us have,” said Al Chen, the spacecraft’s entry, descent and landing lead for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at a news conference Monday.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, called the videos “mandatory viewing” for young people interested in science.
“Stay with us, there is much more amazement to come,” he said.
NASA also released on Monday the first images taken by the Mastcam-Z, a sophisticated camera system aboard the spacecraft, which was designed and is operated by a team at Arizona State University.
The first images from Mastcam-Z show the rolling, rocky surface of Mars as well as portions of the carsized Perseverance rover.
An ASU team of about 20 scientists, engineers, graduate and undergraduate students at the university’s School of Earth and Space Exploration spent more than seven years designing and testing two high-powered cameras aboard the unmanned spacecraft bound for Mars.
Mastcam-Z is a dual-camera system with zoom capabilities and the ability to create 3D pictures and panoramas. Each camera is about the size of a can of tennis balls.
The cameras are attached to the rover’s mast and positioned about six feet off the ground. At maximum zoom, the cameras can recognize an object as small as an almond from across the length of a football field.
Each morning, the ASU research team sends commands to the spacecraft, which are relayed through NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Deep Space Network of radio antennas and beamed directly to the rover.
The rover follows the commands, and at the end of each day, the data get bundled up and sent back to Earth via NASA’s Martian orbiters, which serve as relay satellites.
The images get posted for viewing on the mission’s website.
More about Perseverance rover
How much does the rover weigh? The 2,263pound robot is the largest, heaviest and most sophisticated rover NASA has sent to the Red Planet.
How was Perseverance named? NASA chose the rover’s name through a contest, with 13-year-old Alex Mather of Burke, Virginia, picking the winning name.
“We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars,” he wrote in his winning essay. “However, we can persevere. We, not as a nation but as humans, will not give up.”
How many other rovers has NASA sent to Mars? Four. The Sojourner rover was the first in 1997, followed by Spirit and Opportunity in 2004. Curiosity rover landed in 2012.
Are any of the other rovers still operating? Curiosity is the only one of four rovers previously sent to Mars that is still operating.
What makes Perseverance special? The robot has the most sophisticated science and engineering equipment to date. The rover is carrying a mini helicopter, named Ingenuity, that weighs only 4 pounds and is less than 2 feet tall. NASA is planning to fly the helicopter later this year. The spacecraft also has two microphones.
Can the rover detect life? Science instruments aboard the rover will look for signs (or biosignatures) of past microbial life. One instrument, nicknamed SHERLOC, can detect organic matter and minerals. Another, PIXL, uses X-rays to map the chemical composition of rocks.
How long will the Perseverance mission last? The prime science mission is two years or one Martian year. However, NASA typically continues rover operations until the robots wear out in the harsh Martian conditions.
What is the cost of the mission: $2.4 billion to build and launch and $300 million to land and operate the prime science mission.