The U.S. ‘Perseverance’ lands on Mars
Watch the live-stream using this link.
The U.S. Perseverance launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020.
and expects to touch down at the site of an ancient river delta in a lake that once filled Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021.
The landing will be live-streamed through the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex website.
Additional live streaming is also available through the NASA website.
NASA Live
Feb. 18, Thursday 12:30 p.m. — Perseverance Mars Rover landing day livestream for all students 2:15 p.m. — NASA will provide multiple feeds of live landing coverage of the Perseverance Mars Rover, leading up to the rover’s landing at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST.
NASA TV coverage, with mission commentary, will be available on this page
A “clean” feed of views inside mission control and mission audio only, will be available on NASA TV’s media channel and the JPLraw YouTube Channel
A 360-degree view inside mission control will be available on JPL’s YouTube channel
2:30 p.m. — “Juntos Perseveramos”: live Spanish-language landing commentary on NASA en Español’s YouTube channel. 5:30 p.m. (no earlier than) — Perseverance Mars Rover post-landing coverage
The U.S. rover will be carrying a helicopter, the Ingenuity, which will deploy from the belly of the rover, on the surface of Mars. It’s solar-powered, with a battery assist, and is capable of short flights of up to 980 feet (300 meters) at a time.
This copter will be the first powered flight in the thin Martian air. Its mission and goals are separate from the Mars mission, and it has a set of goals specific to flying an autonomous aircraft on the planet.
- “Survive launch, cruise to Mars, and landing on the Red Planet.
- Deploy safely to the Martian surface from the belly pan of the Perseverance rover and unfold from its stowed position correctly.
- Keep warm (autonomously) through the intensely cold Martian nights (as frigid as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 90 degrees Celsius).
- Charge (autonomously) using its solar panel.
- Confirm communications with the rover and flight operators on Earth.
- Spin up its rotor blades for the first time (to a speed below what would be needed for flight).
- Liftoff for the first time in the thin Martian atmosphere.
- Fly autonomously and land successfully.”
NASA press kit for the Ingenuity for more details
It’s getting crowded up there.
China’s Tianwen-1 is one of a small fleet of probes launched last year. They have all successfully reached Mars this month.
The probe from the United Arab Emirates ‘Hope’ reached Mars on Feb 9, 2021, and will remain in orbit, while the United States ‘Perseverance’ lands on Feb. 18, 2021.
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