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The robotic vehicle Perseverance, which landed yesterday Thursday in the Jezero crater of Mars, I take “the first color photograph” of the surface of the red planet disclosed this Friday by the US space agency NASA.
The high resolution image It was taken moments before the dangerous landing of Perseverance, a robot that will spend at least two years in Jezero crater, examining the planet’s geology, collecting samples and looking for signs of ancient life.
The photograph shows the surface of the red planet with very soft yellow tones in which the shadow of a part of the “rover” and the horizon can be seen.
“This shot of a camera on my ‘jetpack’ captures me in the air, just before my wheels landed,” says Perseverance on his Twitter account.
“The moment my team dreamed of for years is now a reality”he adds.
The moment my team dreamed of for years is now a reality. Dare to powerful things. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/8SgV53S9KG
– NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021
It is the same image released on Thursday in black and white, but now in its color version.
LAND AND ROCKS THAT COULD BE VOLCANIC
NASA also showed another image, with yellow tones, of the Martian soil at a press conference, where the ground and especially some rocks “with many holes” that “are not common”, according to scientists.
NASA experts pointed out that these small rocks could be volcanic.
They added that what they have seen so far in the images is quite flat, which, they said, was a great relief for Perseverance’s dangerous landing maneuver, which yesterday Thursday had to reduce speed from 20,000 kilometers per hour to zero in just seven minutes.
The first photos were also taken with the transparent protective covers that the space vehicle’s cameras still have, a total of 25, including two installed on the small Ingenuity helicopter, an aircraft weighing less than two kilos.
The photos, the scientists noted, come from the so-called “Hazcams” that seek to avoid dangers while moving the vehicle.
Shot by the @HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, @POTHe’s a long-standing workhorse, and my partner overloads.
– NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021
Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of Perseverance, explained today that once the helicopter is operational, which is expected to be the first to make a flight on another planet, it will be able to take photos and videos of the space vehicle, and vice versa.
The Perseverance, which still remains in the place where it landed on Thursday, with its rear facing what is supposed to be the delta of a river, will have the task of going little by little testing their instruments.
For now, scientists are analyzing the first images of the delta that they hope will be rich in sediment and possibly volcanic rocks.
The Jezero crater was chosen by NASA because it is believed that it was a lake into which a river flowed and therefore may be rich in fossil microorganisms.
NASA further noted that Perseverance’s two microphones have not yet recorded the sounds of Mars, but that they will soon.
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