Tricky Terrain: Helping to Assure a Safe Rover Landing
Entry, Descent, and Landing System: Mars 2020’s Perseverance rover is equipped with a lander vision system based on terrain-relative navigation, an advanced method of autonomously comparing real-time images to preloaded maps that determine the rover’s position relative to hazards in the landing area. Divert guidance algorithms and software can then direct the rover around those obstacles if needed. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Full image and caption ›
How two new technologies will help Perseverance, NASA’s most sophisticated rover yet, touch down onto the surface of Mars this month.
After a nearly seven-month journey to Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is slated to land at the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater Feb. 18, 2021, a rugged expanse chosen for its scientific research and sample collection possibilities.
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An illustration depicts the Perseverance rover operating on Mars (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Space exploration is expected to ramp up further in 2021, and Mars promises to be a hot destination. Spacecrafts from three programs â Mars 2020 (US), Tianwen-1 (China), and Hope Probe (the United Arab Emirates or UAE) â are expected to enter the planetâs orbit in February, hoping to start new chapters of exploration there. Hereâs what is known so far about each mission.
Mars 2020
Seven minutes of harrowing descent to the Red Planet is in the not-so-distant future for NASAâs Mars 2020 mission. Launched on July 30, 2020, the missionâs Perseverance rover is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars on February 18, 2021.
After 7 minutes of terror, NASA s Perseverance rover will begin an epic journey on Mars next month localnews8.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from localnews8.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In 22 days, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will land on Mars in Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient life that may have been on the red planet in the past.