Washington (AFP)
The Perseverance rover has landed on Martian soil after seven months of travel, the US space agency announced Thursday, a resounding success for NASA which marks the start of a multi-year mission.
"Landing confirmed!" Exclaimed Swati Mohan, in charge of operations control.
In the control room of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, the teams present exploded with joy.
NASA immediately released an image taken by the rover there.
"Hello world. My first sight of the house that will be mine forever," tweeted the rover's official account to accompany the extraordinary black and white image, on which the vehicle's shadow can be seen projected on the ground .
Jezero Crater, which scientists believe contained a lake 3.5 billion years ago, was the most perilous landing site NASA ever attempted.
Perseverance will be responsible for collecting evidence of ancient life on Mars.
After entering at 20,000 km / h, friction with the air raised the temperature of the vessel to 1,300 ° C.
The rover was protected by a heat shield, which was only released after the opening of a huge supersonic parachute.
Eight retro-rockets finished slowing it down before it deploys its six wheels, suspended along cables until it hits the ground.
Perseverance is only the fifth rover to set foot on Martian soil.
Since the first, in 1997, they have all been Americans, and one of them, Curiosity, is still active elsewhere on the Red Planet.
The first rock samples by Perseverance should begin this summer.
The sealed tubes will then have to be brought back to Earth by a future mission, in the 2030s, in order to be analyzed.
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