IT’S been inspirational watching the first pictures of Nasa’s Perseverance parachute onto Mars. Just last Thursday, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover landed on the Jezero Crater to collect samples of rock and regolith as well as search for signs of ancient life. It sent back the first video of its landing to Earth just two days ago. Looking at these incredible images of the surface of the Red Planet is mind-blowing for us mere mortals. Back on planet Earth, as well as the sheer awe-inspiring nature of this space programme, the one thing that really struck me during the TV coverage was the many women involved in the mission, both on the main team and in the mission control room on the night of the successful landing.