NASA Successfully Lands Perseverance Rover & Ingenuity Helicopter On Mars
The two NASA exploration vehicles -- Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter -- are expected to be on Mars for one whole Martian year which is approximately 687 Earth days.
NASA has done it again. It has successfully landed yet another rover on the Martian surface. But it wasn¡¯t just a rover this time. The Perseverance rover was accompanied by the Ingenuity helicopter. Both successfully landed at 2:27 AM Indian Time on the Jezero Crater.
I¡¯m safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere.
¡ª NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021
#CountdownToMars
The two NASA exploration vehicles -- Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter -- are expected to be on Mars for one whole Martian year which is approximately 687 Earth days. The primary objective of this Mars mission is to denote how life existed on the Martian surface, if it ever did, as well as seek existing life forms if any and sending back a sample to Earth in 2026.
NASA
The Mars Mission 2020 will essentially help in continuing to create a foundation for the possibility of future human life on Mars while also seek existing life forms if any and sending back a sample to earth in 2026.
The Perseverance rover is also capable of collecting samples and storing them in hermetically sealed tubes which will be collected by future manned missions on the Martian surface.
NASA
Manufactured at the facilities at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Perseverance rover specifically is loaded with a plethora of equipment and sensors that will constantly provide data about Mars.
It has a total of 23 cameras, two microphones that allow capture of Martian winds. The rover also has lasers onboard for chemical analysis of the Martian surface.
NASA
One of these sensors is a special instrument - PIXL. (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) -- a precision X-ray device powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that will hunt for traces of microscopic life from billions of years ago on Mars.
Ingenuity, on the other hand, is a mini helicopter. This is also the first aircraft to fly on the Martian surface. Designed by IIT Alum Bob Balram it was tested in a vacuum chamber at JPL to make the helicopter ready for the low-atmosphere of the Martian surface.
NASA
It has been constructed with state-of-the-art materials like carbon fibre for added strength while offering light-weightiness. Ingenuity is also capable of withstanding extreme cold temperatures thanks to better insulation along with onboard heaters to protect electronics, it also powers itself from solar energy.
