Success at Mars! Perseverance Sends First Photos

Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team watch in mission control as the first images arrive moments after the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Besides looking for past Martian life, the rover study local geology and become the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and soil. NASA / Bill Ingalls

Nice work! The success of today's mission reverberated across the country, offering cheery relief from the drumbeat of COVID-19. At the same time the powered descent vehicle lowered the rover to the Martian surface, my friend Sam carefully lowered himself down an icy waterfall on a frozen creek. Although our icy hike precluded watching the landing, I kept careful track of the time so I could follow those seven dicey minutes in my imagination.  

Isn't this just classic Mars? This is the first photo sent back from Perseverance moments after landing on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. NASA

Perseverance sent back two black and white images of a boulder-strewn plain from two of its hazard-detection cameras. These were still capped with dust-protection filters, so the photos aren't great, but they clearly show that the rover landed safely. They'll also help NASA pinpoint exactly where it touched down in the landing zone. 

This photo was taken by another hazard camera from the rear of the rover. Future photos will be much sharper once the protective dust filters are removed. NASA

Hopefully, we'll soon have images of the landing itself that were beamed up to the European Mars Odyssey orbiter. And I can't wait for the sound recording of Perseverance touching down. I love Earth but a piece of me badly wants to vacation on Mars.

The icon marks the spot where Perseverance landed on Feb. 18. It's not far from the center of the landing zone on the ancient delta in Jezero Crater about 1.2 miles (2 km) from the cliffs (at left). NASA

NASA has just released a landing site map that identifies the location of the rover and allows you to interactively explore the region. Click the link and zoom around for a better look.

This high-resolution still image is part of a video taken by several cameras as NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars on Feb. 18.  A camera aboard the descent stage captured this shot. NASA / JPL-Caltech

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