The Nasa Perseverance rover landed safely on Mars yesterday, after its 239-million-mile journey through space. This is just the beginning of the rover’s two-year journey, as it searches for possible alien life on Mars.
Nasa has announced its two-year plan to explore the past habitability of Mars, starting with the collection of core samples of Martian rock and soil, and eventually testing new technologies on the surface to make way for future explorations. The Mars helicopter was also strapped to the rover to test the “first powered” flight on Mars.
The US president Joe Biden expressed his support for the feat, calling it a ‘historical moment,’ and calling Nasa’s acting chief Steve Jurczyk, just an hour after the rover landed.
The rover has since sent back its first three pictures of the Red Planet, which were acquired on February 18th at 20:58:24 Mars time.
The initial pictures were sent moments after landing and were taken with the rover’s hazard camera. As soon as the rover finishes settling down and initiating its more powerful devices we will have new colour images.