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 ...