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GREAT NEWS for NASA!
JUST happened at 3:55 PM today.
Perseverance rover successfully lands on Mars, a key step in NASA’s search for signs of life
NASA’s newest robotic explorer has landed safely on Mars after a nearly 300-million-mile journey that began on a Florida launch pad.
The agency’s Perseverance rover touched down on the Red Planet at 3:55 p.m. EST Thursday, bringing an end to the “seven minutes of terror” that saw a fiery atmospheric entry and parachute-assisted descent. The rover’s landing mechanism then fired eight retrorockets to slow down and guide it to a proper landing spot before using nylon cords to lower it onto the surface.
"Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life," exclaimed NASA engineer Swati Mohan.
All told, the unique landing maneuver successfully decelerated Perseverance from thousands of miles an hour to just 1.7 mph at touchdown. And because of an 11-minute delay in transmissions from Earth to Mars, the rover did it all on its own – no human input was possible.
So the Lander is actually a Rover and also has a helicopter. Amazing!
inages - how it landed and first photo from the lander on Mars. >
Mars rover landing 2021: NASA Perseverance lands in search for life