News

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Touches Down On Mars

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 — NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down safely on Mars on Thursday, kicking off the agency’s ninth mission on the Red Planet, reports Xinhua news agency.

Cheers erupted in mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as controllers confirmed the rover, with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter attached to its belly, completed its landing on Mars at around 3.55 pm local time.

The rover hit the top of the Martian atmosphere seven minutes before its touchdown, and executed the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) process, which was described by NASA as “seven minutes of terror.”

The Perseverance rover, which is the biggest, heaviest, cleanest, and most sophisticated six-wheeled robotic geologist ever launched into space, will search Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life on Mars, and collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth.

It is the first rover to bring a sample caching system to Mars that will package promising samples for return to Earth by a future mission.

“Perseverance is NASA’s most ambitious Mars rover mission yet, focused scientifically on finding out whether there was ever any life on Mars in the past,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“To answer this question, the landing team will have its hands full getting us to Jezero Crater – the most challenging Martian terrain ever targeted for a landing,” he said.

Perseverance is the fifth Mars rover sent by NASA to Mars, after Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. It is also the largest and heaviest robotic Mars rover NASA has built.

The rover is the third spacecraft that arrived at the Red Planet this month after Hope probe, the first interplanetary mission from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Tianwen-1 probe, China’s first Mars mission.

Perseverance was launched on July 30 last year from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US state of Florida.

Source: BERNAMA

Adib Mohd

Recent Posts

Not Just Big Sales Anymore, Lazada Drops Daily Deals

Gone are the days when online shopping was just about big monthly sales and surprise… Read More

8 hours ago

Red Army Watches Malaysia & SEVENFRIDAY Celebrate Merdeka with a Limited-Edition Riley Bear in Batik

In celebration of Malaysia’s Independence Day and Malaysia Day 2025, Red Army Watches Malaysia is… Read More

10 hours ago

HABIB Celebrates Malaysia’s Heritage with Modern Sparkle This Merdeka

Malaysia’s homegrown jeweller, HABIB, returns with its iconic Jualan Merdeka campaign, running nationwide from now… Read More

10 hours ago

Sacoor Brothers Reimagines Luxury with New Flagship Boutique at Suria KLCC

Portuguese luxury fashion house Sacoor Brothers has unveiled its newly redesigned flagship boutique at Suria… Read More

10 hours ago

Casio x The Sandbox: G-SHOCK Is Now in the Metaverse

Brace yourself, your favorite tough-as-nails watch just got a futuristic makeover. Casio is teaming up… Read More

14 hours ago

Pandora’s “Colour Pop” Collection Is Serving Summer Energy in Every Sparkle

Looking to brighten up your style this summer? Pandora's latest “Colour Pop” collection is bringing… Read More

14 hours ago

This website uses cookies.