Perseverance Rover begins mission exploring Mars

The Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere and landed safely on the floor of a vast crater, its first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet. Let’s read more about the mission and the developments so far… Mars […]

The Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere and landed safely on the floor of a vast crater, its first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet. Let’s read more about the mission and the developments so far…

Mars was considered to be a dry planet in the 20th century. This changed in 2001, when the Gamma Ray Spectrometer on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft detected a fascinating hydrogen signature that seemed to indicate the presence of water ice.

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To test for the presence of water, NASA sent a spacecraft to land near the Martian South Pole in 2007. The spacecraft studied the soil around the lander with its robotic arm and was able to establish, without any ambiguity, the presence of water on Mars for the first time.

 Aim of Mars Perseverance Rover

On July 30, 2020, NASA launched its Mars Perseverance Rover on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. On February 18, 2021, Perseverance landed successfully on the red planet.

The 2,260-pound (1,025kg) rover touched down with precision at an ancient river delta site in Jezero Crater. Perseverance is exploring an area where a lake existed nearly 4 billion years ago.

The Perseverance mission has numerous objectives, including exploring its geologically diverse landing site, assessing ancient habitability, seeking signs of ancient life, gathering rock and soil samples, and demonstrating technology for future exploration by robots and humans alike.

Perseverance will spend at least one Martian year (about two Earth years) exploring the landing site region. Onboard are seven instruments that will analyze the minerals of the Martian surface.

First images

Perseverance, or ‘Percy’ as some at mission control call the rover, landed at 3:55 p.m. ET. The landing went smoothly, and Percy wasted no time sending its first image back to Earth. Perseverance then sent a second image, showing the view from the rear of the spacecraft.

Both images were captured using onboard ‘hazard cameras,’ and the protective covers were still in place. Future images will be more detailed and impressive, but these are nonetheless important photos. The images will be used to help the team very precisely locate Perseverance’s landing site on the Martian surace.

Sample returns

Perseverance is the first step in a multi-step project to bring samples back from Mars. The study of the returned rock samples in sophisticated laboratories all over the world will hopefully provide a decisive answer on whether life existed on Mars in the past.

Steps in the Sample return

As the first step, Perseverance will collect rock and soil samples in 43 cigar-sized tubes. The samples will be collected, the canisters will be sealed, and left on the ground. The second step is for a Mars Fetch Rover (provided by the European Space Agency) to land, drive, and collect all samples from the different locations, and return to the lander.

The Fetch Rover will then transfer the canisters to the Ascent Vehicle. The Mars Ascent Vehicle will meet with an Orbiter after which the Orbiter will carry the samples back to Earth.

This long-term project is called MSR or Mars Sample Return. MSR will revolutionise our understanding of the evolutionary history of Mars. If MSR is successfully executed, we will have a reasonable answer of whether there was microscopic life on Mars.

The Indian-connection

Among the scientists who are part of this historic mission, Indian-American Dr Swati Mohan spearheaded the development of altitude control and the landing system for the rover.

“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” exclaimed NASA engineer Dr Swati Mohan.

When the world watched the dramatic landing, in the control room, calm and composed bindi-clad Dr Mohan was communicating and coordinating between the GN&C subsystem and the rest of the project’s team.

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