(MENAFN - Asia Times) It was the first time many of those at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory had been together in the same room due to Covid social-distancing protocols, and not everyone could be on site for the historic moment, officials said.
But those who were in mission control stood and applauded after Percy, otherwise known as the NASA Perseverance explorer, made a flawless landing on Mars, following a lengthy 300 million-mile, six-month journey and the infamous seven minutes of terror, CNN reported.
The US$2.4 billion spacecraft sent back its first images immediately after touchdown, which shows the rover s shadow on the surface of its landing site of Jezero Crater.