As part of its mission, the rover will feature the geology and past climate of the Red Planet, and pave the way for human exploration of Mars.
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover made its maiden drive on Mars, covering 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in the Martian landscape. The drive served as a mobility test that is one of many goals that team members check and calibrate on every system, subsystem, and instrument on diligence. Once the rover begins to pursue its science goals, regular trips of 656 feet (200 meters) or more are expected.
Ennis Zarifian, Mars 2020 The Perseverance Rover Mobility Testbed Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said: This was our first chance to ‘kick the tire’ and take the spin diligently. Rover’s six-wheel drive responded brilliantly. We are now confident that our drive system is good to go, science is able to take us there in the next two years. ”
The drive, which lasted about a minutested minute, propelled the rover 1 foot (meters), where it turned 150 degrees to the left and backed up 8 feet (2.5 meters) into its new temporary parking space. To help better understand the dynamics of a retrograde landing on the Red Planet, engineers used perseverance navigation and a hazard av idens camera to image the location where the patience breaks down, plucking the dust out of its engine.
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Deputy Mission Manager Robert Hoge added: “The first test of the robotic arm was a big moment for us. It is the main tool that the science team will use to take a closer look at the geographical features of the Jezero Crater, and then we will consider them the most interesting and give them a sample. While we’ve got the robotic arm confirmed to flex its muscles, including images that work beautifully after its long journey to Mars – well, it makes my day. “
Since its landing on Mars on February 18, the rover has checked several routines, including a software update, relying on analyzing a planet that had consistently helped land with a NASA by changing a computer program.
At the same time, the space agency said the rover continues to send images from Mars using the most advanced camera suite ever to travel to the Red Planet.
Justin Maki, the chief engineer and imaging scientist for imaging for the Mars 2020 Perspective rover mission at JPL, said: Is an important partner in our research and our quest. ”
