Perseverance

[svetz]

Only a couple more hours... anyone excited?

 

[FilterGuy]

I am very excited. I sure hope it land successfully. I also hope it way out-lives it's target lifetime like some of the other rovers have.

 

[svetz]

It's only coming in at 2,000 mph... what could go wrong?

So cool....

Ingenuity helicopter​

Main article: Mars Helicopter Ingenuity
Ingenuity is a robotic helicopter that will test the technology to scout interesting targets for study on Mars, and help plan the best driving route for Perseverance. The aircraft will be deployed from the rover's deck, and is expected to fly up to five times during its 30-day test campaign early in the mission. Each flight will take no more than three minutes, at altitudes ranging from 3 m to 10 m above the ground, but it could potentially cover a maximum distance of about 600 m (2,000 ft) per flight. It will use autonomous control and communicate with Perseverance directly after each landing. If it works as expected, NASA will be able to build on the design for future Mars missions.

 

[bagmanmike]

Multiple screens live (minus 11 minutes) - good luck!!

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Almost there... exciting

 

[FilterGuy]

It is on the ground safely!!!!

 

[FilterGuy]

Tango Delta Nominal!!!!

 

[FilterGuy]

First image back

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

You beat me to it

Edit: second image

 

[FilterGuy]

You beat me to it

Edit: second image

View attachment 37536

I love the wheel in the lower right.
These images are all with the dust cover.... Can't wait till we get the full res without dust covers.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

They're also the engineering cameras, not the actual high resolution stuff.
I remember when Pathfinder/Sojourner landed and it took forever to get the first image. Getting these pretty much in real time right after landing is awesome.

 

[svetz]

Still attached to the skycrane and coming down...

 

[FilterGuy]

Still attached to the skycrane and coming down...

If you don't find that picture amazing on multiple levels..... you must turn in your pocket protector!!!

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Just read up on the engineering feat to pull that off...

 

[Rider]

First image back

View attachment 37535

 

[Gazoo]

I love the wheel in the lower right.

Still using wheels on mars... I understand the need but they look barbaric compared to the rest of the spacecraft. Hopefully the heli will work. I find all of this amazing.

 

[curiouscarbon]

the atmosphere is <1% density of ours on earth, yet they are planning on flying a helicopter, powered by solar. amazing.

 

[FilterGuy]

The only thing that makes it even remotely possible is that Mars gravity is only 38% of Earth gravity. But even with that advantage, they must have done some amazing tricks to get the weight down enough to be successful. I wonder how long it will take to recharge after a flight.
One interesting tidbit: The Lithium batteries are off-the-shelf.

 

[Rider]

The Lithium batteries are off-the-shelf.

To quote a famous song, "In fact, it's cold as hell...."
Wonder how they're handling the extreme cold charge scenario? Heaters would use a lot of energy. Nuke?

 

[DerpsyDoodler]

How did you learn they were using off the shelf batteries?