The Perseverance Robot made its first flight over Mars and filmed the paths it left

The Perseverance of the Mars Explorer She passed her first test On the red planet after its arrival two weeks ago, the US space agency NASA reported.

On its first transmission at noon Thursday, to verify that the system was working properly, it was the six-wheeler It covered 6.5 meters in 33 minutes.

He advanced four meters, turned 150 degrees to the left, then retreated 2.5 meters, and he is capable Take a photo of your wheel tracks on Mars soilPublished by NASA.

“This was our first opportunity to” test the tires “and take advantage of the persistence in turning,” said Anis Zarifyan, the engineer in charge of tenacity movement at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Zarifyan said the test drive was “incredibly pleasant” and “a huge milestone for the mission and mobility team.”

“We will do some longer distance runs,” he added. “This is only the beginning.”

NASA said that NASA engineers have said they are studying potential routes for longer trips on Mars, perhaps one for Friday and the other for Saturday.

Perseverance can travel 200 meters for each Mars day, which is a little longer than a day on Earth.

It is traveling five times faster than its predecessor Curiosity, which is still operating eight years after landing on Mars.

Deputy Director of Perseverance Mission Robert Hogg said engineers are also preparing for the first unmanned helicopter flight in exploration. Scientists were making flight plans for the first flight in late spring or early summer, Hugh said.

He said that the mission had not encountered any major problems so far.

“It’s minor stuff (…) Everything we’ve tried has worked great.”

Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020 and landed on Mars on February 18th on a mission to search for traces of life. Its main assignment will last a little more than two years, but it will likely continue to function much longer.

In the coming years, Perseverance will try to collect 30 samples of rock and soil in sealed tubes that will be sent to Earth sometime in the 1930s for analysis.

The vehicle weighs about a ton, is the size of an off-road vehicle, is equipped with a two-meter robotic arm, and has 19 cameras, two microphones and a host of state-of-the-art gadgets.

You have so far posted more than 7000 photos, Including one from a light brown rock that was used to test a device called SuperCam – a very advanced French shoebox-sized camera that can shoot a laser beam at rocks up to seven meters for analysis. Configure it.

Perseverance is the fifth spacecraft to set its wheels on Mars, all American. This feat was first implemented in 1997.

The United States is preparing for a final human mission to planet Earth, although planning is still in its infancy.

With information from Agence France-Presse

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