Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Perhaps then, in light of an international time-line history of Mars exploration fraught with failures, that the name "Perseverance" of the 2020 mission Rover, acquires higher significance, next to all the hurdles of the COVID-19 pandemic (NASA Chronology). In any event, it certainly explains the NASA scientists’ disappointment-defense mantra: “We get what we get and we don’t get upset.."(NASA Press Conference Feb. 22, 2021) A mantra that perhaps also uncovers the true vulnerability of working with such data magnitude, scale and complexity, considering after all, that the 2020 mission finally worked “to an unbelievably perfect T”, with footage so awesome that many folks find it truly hard to walk away from their viewing screens.
Actually, Mars is a very solicited planet in 2021. Aside from the US NASA Perseverance Rover mission, together with the Ingenuity aircraft tucked inside its belly, several spacecraft are already orbiting, or exploring Mars (NASA Perseverance). Specifically, the US rovers Curiosity and Insight continue to operate on Mars, and six orbiters (three US, two European and one Indian) are observing Mars (Associated Press, 2020; NASA Insight; NASA Curiosity).
Additionally, no less than two new Mars exploration missions were also launched, at about the same time as the US Perseverance Rover mission on July 30th, 2020. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) orbiter mission called Amal (“Hope” in Arabic) was launched on July 15th, 2020, from the Tanegashima Space Center, in Japan. The Amal orbiter mission, controlled in Dubai, is designed to monitor global Martian weather (Barrett, A., 2020). Whereas, the China-led Probe, first-of-its-kind-combination orbiter-lander-rover mission, designated “Tianwen” (Questions for Heaven in Chinese), was launched on July 23rd, 2020, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, China. The Chinese probe successfully started orbiting Mars on February 10th, 2021, with a perigee of about 400 kilometers, and a circling period of 10 days. The Chinese lander, together with its rover payload, will detach from the orbiter some time in May or June 2021, for entry into the Martian Atmosphere. The anticipated touchdown site is the Utopia Planitia Crater. The lander will unfurl a ramp, for the still un-named Chinese rover to roll out, and begin exploration (Stein, 2020).
All three missions, the US Perseverance robotic explorer, the UAE Amal Probe orbiter, and the China TianWen Probe, combination orbiter-lander-rover, launched in the summer 2020, were taking advantage of a favorable alignment of Earth and Mars, which only occurs every 26 months (Associated Press, 2020; Child, 2020; Lemonick, 2019). An alignment, which essentially makes the travel time shorter, and entry into the Martian atmosphere easier.
Before safely touching down on Mars, exactly as planned, on February 18th, 2021, the NASA Perseverance Rover, together with the Ingenuity aircraft tucked beneath it, survived an imagination-defying, 300-million mile journey. A perilous journey, beginning with takeoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Florida, inside a spacecraft capsule, onboard an Atlas C-451 rocket (NASA - Launch). Takeoff was shortly followed by separation of the capsule from the rocket, and a 7-month solar-powered cruise through space, at a speed of approx. 26,900 mph (NASA - Cruise). A cruise culminating in the most intense part of the journey, consisting in the 7-minute, scorching temperature, 9G vibration Entry into the Martian atmosphere, Descent and Landing of the spacecraft on Martian soil (NASA - Landing; EDL phase). An EDL phase that included such critical maneuvers as cruise stage separation, Martian atmospheric entry at 12,500 mph, with a dramatic heat peak measured at 2370 degrees Fahrenheit (1300 degrees Celsius) caused by massive speed desceleration to 1000 mph, using Martian atmosphere, followed by parachute deployment, separation of the heat shield and aeroshell protection, firing of the descent stage retro-rockets, and separation from the descent stage to touchdown (see image below), most of which was captured on video camera, in otherwise unbelievable, mesmerizing clarity (NASA JPL - Simulated EDL video; NASA (non-simulated) Video - Descent & Touchdown).
The below image shows a (non-simulated) top-down view, taken from the retro-rocket powered descent stage. The top-down view shows the Perseverance Rover being lowered onto Martian soil, using bridles, for touchdown exactly on the Jezero Crater, some 300 million miles away. The umbilical cord also visible is the data cable, sending information back and forth to the descent stage, including captured video data, from which this still was extracted.
Reference
Associated Press (July 13, 2020) Missions to Mars: U.S., Mars: U.S., China, UAE prepare to send spacecraft to the red planet https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-13/us-china-uae-send-spacecraft-to-mars
Barrett, A. (July 20, 2020) UAS Mars mission 'Hope Probe' launches successfully. https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/uae-mars-mission-hope-probe-launches-successfully/
Child, D. (Feb. 02-2021) Space race: UAE, US and Chinese missions prepare to explore Mars https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/2/8/space-race-uae-us-and-chinese-missions-prepare-to-explore-mars
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NASA Mars Exploration time line (1964 - 2016) https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/timeline/
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NASA JPL Video Simulation - Perseverance's Entry Descent and Landing https://youtu.be/M4tdMR5HLtg
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NASA – Press Conference Transacript – Febraury 22, 2021 Perseverance Rover searches for life on Mars. https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/nasa-press-conference-transcript-february-22-perseverance-rover-searches-for-life-on-mars
NASA Video (non-simulated) - Perseverance descent and touchdown https://youtu.be/4czjS9h4Fpg
NASA reinventing the wheel https://www.nasa.gov/specials/wheels/
NASA Perseverance Rover Wheels (specs) https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/wheels/
Stein, V. (Feb. 7, 2020)Tianwen-1: China's first Mars mission https://www.space.com/tianwen-1.html#:~:text=Tianwen%2D1%20is%20China's%20first,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic
