display
Washington (AP) - The US space agency NASA has published spectacular video images of the landing of the rover “Perseverance” on Mars as well as the first sound recordings from the surface of the red planet.
Such recordings have never been made before, Nasa announced on Monday (local time) at a press conference.
"These videos are incredible," said NASA manager Mike Watkins.
"We all watched them many, many times over the weekend."
The videos, which have already been clicked a million times, show the last eleven kilometers of the “Perseverance” route (in German, for example: staying power).
For example, you can see how the parachute opens.
The surface on which the rover lands is also visible.
display
The microphones on board the rover did not send any usable data from the landing - but later sent the first ever recorded sound recordings from the surface of Mars, it said.
You can hear something on them that sounds like a gust of wind.
New photos were also published.
“Now that you've seen Mars, hear it.
Grab a pair of headphones and listen to the first noises that have been picked up by one of my microphones, ”says the rover's Twitter account, affectionately known as“ Percy ”.
"We now finally have a front row view of what we call the" seven minutes of terror "during the Mars landing," enthused Watkins.
What is meant is the time in which the spacecraft has to brake sharply in order to be able to set down the rover safely on the neighboring planet on earth, among other things with a parachute.
The small "Ingenuity" helicopter on board the rover had previously sent its first status report to the control center in Pasadena, California - and according to NASA experts, it appears to be "working very well".
“Ingenuity” (in German: ingenuity) is still attached to the underside of “Perseverance”, where it is currently being charged.
But in 30 to 60 days the helicopter should explore Mars from a bird's eye view.
It would be the first flight of an aircraft over another planet.
display
The rover "Perseverance", weighing around 1,000 kilograms and the size of a small car, landed on Thursday - after 203 days of flight and 472 million kilometers - with a risky maneuver in a dry lake called "Jezero Crater".
Perseverance is to investigate this lake with a diameter of around 45 kilometers over the next two years.
Development and construction of the approximately 2.5 billion dollar (about 2.2 billion euros) rover had taken eight years.
He is supposed to search for traces of previous microbial life on Mars and to research the climate and geology of the planet.
“Perseverance” is already the fifth rover that NASA has brought to Mars - the last time “Curiosity” arrived there in 2012.
Overall, however, not even half of all Mars missions launched worldwide have so far been successful.
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210223-99-556013 / 3
Communication from NASA
Tweet with video on the "Perseverance" account
ABC report
CNN report
Nasa-PK via Twitter
Tweet with sound recording from Mars