Perseverance has started work: the first images from the Red Planet

Perseverance has started work: the first images from the Red Planet
Perseverance has started work: the first images from the Red Planet
Anonim

Immediately after a successful landing on the surface of Mars, the American Perseverance rover sent two images from the Red Planet.

The landing made at about midnight Moscow time lasted about seven minutes, it was completely carried out in automatic mode. To reduce the speed of the descent vehicle, the parachute was first opened, then the casing of the rover, designed to protect it from the effects of high temperatures, will be detached. At the last stage of landing, the braking engines of the lander worked, after which the rover was lowered from it to the surface of Mars on ropes. After the vehicle reached the surface, a check of all its systems and equipment began, TASS reports.

According to the first data from NASA specialists, no damage to the rover during landing was recorded. Deputy Flight Program Manager Matt Wallace said the aircraft was "in excellent shape." In turn, the deputy head of the project Jennifer Trosper noted that the power systems of the rover are working as required.

As reported, NASA specialists plan that with the help of the Perseverance rover they will be able to detect traces of existence on Mars in the distant past of life.

Perseverance also delivered equipment to the Red Planet, which, in case of successful tests, can be used when other vehicles land on Mars. The interim head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Steve Yurchik explained that among such equipment is an experimental model of a helicopter for flights over the surface of Mars. According to him, if the testing of this device is successful, it can be used for additional observations during missions, and in the future - for reconnaissance of the site for the landing of new rovers.

The Atlas V launch vehicle with the Perseverance rover launched to Mars in July last year from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA). It is planned that Perseverance will collect rock and soil samples from the surface of the Red Planet, placing them in about 40 special containers, most of which will be taken by another rover in 2026. It is assumed that they will be loaded onto a special launch vehicle that will put them into orbit on Mars. Already there the valuable cargo will be picked up by another apparatus that will deliver them to Earth. According to the mission program, this will happen in the 2030s.

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