mclumber1 Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 There will be lots of internet (and probably television) coverage of this mission today. See here for NASA's streams. This is a notable mission because it's based on the same platform as the 2012 Curiosity Rover, but with many upgrades, including a deployable helicopter, sample collection (for eventual return to Earth), a tech demo to make breathable oxygen from the CO2 atmosphere, and more instrumentation to search for signs of life. This is a high stakes mission that has a reasonable chance of failure, so temper your expectations. Since Mars is currently ~130 million miles away from Earth, there is a considerable time delay between the two planets, so any data we get actually happened about 11 minutes prior. Also the data transfer rate will be very limited, so there will be very few pictures seen today. Within a few days, they hope to have full motion video (with sound) of the entry, descent, and landing. Quote
Jwheel86 Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 For those unaware, Perseverance, like Curiosity, will land using a sky crane. 1 Quote
mclumber1 Posted February 18, 2021 Author Posted February 18, 2021 NASA/JPL Eyes EYES.NASA.GOV Interactive map showing you Perseverance's current location and status. As of 9:16 AM Pacific, it's about 20,000 miles away from Mars, and is accelerating as it falls into Mar's gravity well. It is currently travelling around 6500 MPH, but will enter the atmosphere around 12,000 MPH. Quote
Uaarkson Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 36 minutes ago, Jwheel86 said: For those unaware, Perseverance, like Curiosity, will land using a sky crane. LOL oh my god this is SO FUCKING cool Quote
PaladinSolo Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 NASA is truly the only exceptional thing about the USA, no one else has successfully landed on mars and transmitted data back, and we've done it 8 times, and are 5 for 5 since 2003. Quote
Jwheel86 Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 Good livestream, landing in 18min our time 2 Quote
Fizzzzle Posted February 18, 2021 Posted February 18, 2021 Just a reminder that they launched a (relatively) tiny piece of metal from the surface of the earth, which traveled to and landed on a body that was (at the time of landing) 130 million miles away (further than the Sun), and that body is traveling at well over 50 thousand miles per hour relative to the sun., 2 Quote
Remarkableriots Posted February 19, 2021 Posted February 19, 2021 3 hours ago, mclumber1 said: Touchdown confirmed! They did what Chiefs couldn't. 1 Quote
Guest Posted February 19, 2021 Posted February 19, 2021 I got legit emotional when they said touchdown confirmed. I hope this stuff never stops being compelling to me. Quote
SilentWorld Posted February 19, 2021 Posted February 19, 2021 I didn’t realize they’re planning on returning samples to Earth. That’s really cool. Quote
mclumber1 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Posted February 19, 2021 41 minutes ago, SilentWorld said: I didn’t realize they’re planning on returning samples to Earth. That’s really cool. To be clear, they are only collecting samples on this mission. This rover has no capability of returning them. The plan is to collect dozens of samples in hermetically sealed vials over the next few years, then the rover will shit them out in an area easily accessible by a future rover. That rover will then collect them, transport them to a small rocket, and that rocket will return the samples to Earth. Quote
chakoo Posted February 19, 2021 Posted February 19, 2021 NASA should be given more money for missions. 1 Quote
mclumber1 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Posted February 19, 2021 Image taken from the rover's jetpack as the rover descends on cables to the planet surface. Note the dust being kicked up from the rocket exhaust. After the rover has confirmed it is on solid ground, it cuts the cables to the jetpack, and the jetpack flies away until it expends all of it's remaining fuel, and then crash lands off in the distance. This image was released at today's press conference, and they hope to download more high res photos, and maybe video and audio as well over the weekend. Quote
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 On 2/19/2021 at 12:10 PM, mclumber1 said: Image taken from the rover's jetpack as the rover descends on cables to the planet surface. Note the dust being kicked up from the rocket exhaust. After the rover has confirmed it is on solid ground, it cuts the cables to the jetpack, and the jetpack flies away until it expends all of it's remaining fuel, and then crash lands off in the distance. This image was released at today's press conference, and they hope to download more high res photos, and maybe video and audio as well over the weekend. Did we get any audio yet? I want to hear what Mars sounds like. Quote
Kal-El814 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said: Did we get any audio yet? I want to hear what Mars sounds like. 1 Quote
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said: 1 Quote
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 BBC News - Perseverance: Watch moment rover lands on Mars Watch moment rover lands on Mars WWW.BBC.CO.UK The American space agency has released unprecedented footage of its robot landing in Mars' Jezero Crater 1 Quote
Guest Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 7 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: BBC News - Perseverance: Watch moment rover lands on Mars Watch moment rover lands on Mars WWW.BBC.CO.UK The American space agency has released unprecedented footage of its robot landing in Mars' Jezero Crater Brilliant Quote
johnny Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: BBC News - Perseverance: Watch moment rover lands on Mars Watch moment rover lands on Mars WWW.BBC.CO.UK The American space agency has released unprecedented footage of its robot landing in Mars' Jezero Crater Quote
mclumber1 Posted February 22, 2021 Author Posted February 22, 2021 5 minutes ago, Jason said: Curiosity is still going BTW. It will likely break it's wheels before it ever actually completely fails. With plutonium as a power source, it should have usable levels of electrical power for at least another 10 years. Quote
Littleronin Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 Mars sounds peaceful. More sounds of Mars: https://t.co/wRrDvkUxeC — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 22, 2021 Quote
Jason Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 7 minutes ago, Littleronin said: Mars sounds peaceful. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-mars-perseverance-rover-provides-front-row-seat-to-landing-first-audio lol it sounds like wind. You can hear wind on Earth. Waste of taxpayer money. Sad. Quote
Littleronin Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Jason said: lol it sounds like wind. You can hear wind on Earth. Waste of taxpayer money. Sad. I know for as much as they spent on this thing you would think they would have sprung for a higher quality dead cat to get rid of the wind noise. Quote
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 I don't know why hearing it is so beautiful and awe-inspiring for me. I didn't expect it to sound different than Earth. And it does not. But it's still beautiful. Quote
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