NASA Perseverance rover sends back its first picture. Credit: NASA.
Watching NASA’s Perseverance rover mission control you could feel the tension through the screen as the rover entered the 7 minutes of terror landing phase. Once again though, as was the case for NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover in 2012, Perseverance nailed the landing and sent back its first picture after landing at 3:55 p.m. EST.
In news release acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said “this landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally – when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission embodies our nation’s spirit of persevering even in the most challenging of situations, inspiring, and advancing science and exploration. The mission itself personifies the human ideal of persevering toward the future and will help us prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet in the 2030s.”
Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team watch in mission control as the first images arrive moments after the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Marc Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor, podcaster and publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media. Marc has 30+ years working in various roles in media, space sector not-for-profits, and internet content development.
Marc started his first Internet creator content business in 1992 and hasn't looked back. When not working Marc loves to explore Canada, the world and document nature through his photography.
