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The landing site for the Perseverance probe is the crater of the lake; from orbit it looks like a very favorable place for life on Mars. The probe that landed in the crater will have four main tasks: geological (analyzing the rocks and landscape at the landing site and giving people more knowledge about the history of the area based on that data); astrobiological (to determine if the landing area was ever suitable for life and to search for traces of life that once existed); sampling (finding and collecting Martian soil samples that may be of scientific interest and preparing those samples for transport to Earth); preparation for the arrival of humans (to test technologies that may be necessary for human survival on Mars at some point in the future).
It should be noted that Perseverance is the first NASA probe whose main task is to determine whether microbial life ever existed on Mars in the past. The task of previous probes was only to determine whether conditions in Mars’ past were suitable for life (and their response was more positive than negative).
“Perseverance is NASA’s most ambitious mission to Mars, with the scientific goal of determining whether there has been life on Mars in the past,” said NASA Deputy Director Tom Zurbuchen.
VIDEO: Landing Animations of NASA’s Rover Perseverance on Mars 2020
Not only that, the Perseverance mission is by no means the most ambitious – the landing of this probe was by far NASA’s most precisely planned operation, executed to the nearest second.
The separation of the capsule containing the Perseverance probe safely from the spacecraft that carried the probe to Mars took place at 10:38 p.m. Vilnius time.
The capsule reached the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere at a speed of 19,500 km / h, which happened at 10:48 p.m.
As it passed through the atmosphere of Mars, friction heated the bottom of the capsule; Despite the much rarer atmosphere, the bottom of the capsule had to warm up to about 1,300 ° C. This maximum temperature was reached at 22:49.
The parachute descent module was still flying at supersonic speeds, which was supposed to happen at approximately 10:52 p.m. Lithuanian time. The exact timing of the parachute deployment had to be determined by a new NASA technology: Range Trigger, which increased the precision of the descending apparatus to land at the intended position.
About 20 seconds after the parachute was deployed, the bottom of the protective capsule, the heat shield, had to separate. In addition to this shield, the Martian was able to use his radar to determine his distance to the surface of Mars and enabled navigation technology relative to the terrain, which allowed him to select a safe place for landing.
The upper part of the capsule, to which is attached a parachute that slows down the descent, was disconnected from the Martian at 22:54 Lithuanian time. At the same time, a set of deceleration jet engines connected to the Martian was activated, directing the aircraft to its intended landing site.
The final stage of the Perseverance landing was an “aerial crane” maneuver: a jet-powered frame remained suspended above the surface of Mars, and the probe itself was lowered from that frame by securing it with nylon ropes. The Martian had to touch the planet very gently, approximately at the speed of a human walk (about 2.7 km / h). It happened at 10:55 p.m. Lithuanian time.
The probe will also analyze the climatic conditions of the Red Planet and assess whether the atmospheric conditions of Mars were suitable for life in the past. Perseverance will also have to describe the geological features of Mars, to tell more about the processes that led to the formation of the crust and soil of Mars over time. Above all, this probe will look for traces of rocks that require water and, in particular, the existence of organic compounds necessary for life in such rocks.
VIDEO: Mission Control Live: NASA lands Perseverance Mars Rover (360 video)
In preparation for the arrival of humans on Mars, Perseverance will test whether it is possible to produce fuel and other resources necessary for survival from local resources, and will analyze the challenges of the Martian atmosphere that will need to be taken into account when planning for the long term. term habitats of the colonists of Mars.
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