Updates – 8:20 pm For English speakers, and along with live broadcasts offered by CNES, live coverage of Mars landing is broadcast on NASA’s YouTube channel from 8:15 pm. Like the experts requested by the CNES, NASA experts will comment on the stage of entry into Mars’ environments, landing descent and persistence and we should have images of the mission control center. The first images of Mars are expected to arrive minutes after landing.

Updates at 8 pm – Landing strongly on Mars can be seen live on the CNES channel. If all goes as expected, the landing at the Jazero Crater is scheduled at around 9:30 p.m. For French speakers, we recommend following the channel landing The CNES plans to shed light on the progress of maneuver and the involvement of several experts on the participation of the French scientific and technical community in the project.

Update 02/18 – To get you in the mood before this great space exploration meeting you can follow live in France from 7:45 pm, you can discover the animation of the Jazero crater performed by the European Space Agency (ESA). It is in this region of Mars, which was once a huge lake, which will descend strongly. An ideal place to look for signs of ancient microbial life.

« Seven minute panic “. It follows that NASA obtained the sequence during which the capsule carrying the Fortitude Rover would enter the Mars atmosphere to deposit its precious cargo somewhere in the Jagero crater. This spectacular landing will take place this Thursday 18 February, six months after leaving Earth to join the Red Planet firmly. For the first time, this phase of entering Mars, Dynasty and Landing (EDL) environments:
Entrance, descent, and landing) Will be filmed and voiced using an on-board camera and microphone.

Despite his great experience of the Martian mission, NASA remembers that ”
Hard to get to mars“And” Only about 40% of missions sent to Mars by any space agency have been successful. Here is everything you need to know about this extraordinary event.

Landing strongly on Mars as if you were there

We should live a unique experience of this EDL sequence this evening (Entrance, descent, and landing) Thanks to the cameras and microphones installed in the ship that will allow us to see and hear everything. However, this will not happen in real time. The journey from Mars to Earth takes time for this data, and it may be days before NASA shares these sights and sounds. The video animation below gives detailed information about how the EDL sequence will run.

Was there life on Mars?

With persistence, NASA will try to answer the big question: Was there life on Mars? Actually, we know today that the drought and dusty planet looked very different in the distant past. The rover will land in an area of ​​Mars that was once a lake, an ideal place to discover traces of ancient germs.

Fortitude will not just take great shots of the red planet. Some of its goals are:

• Look for signs of old microbial life;
• Collect samples of rock and dust to return to Earth later;
• Discard an experimental helicopter;
• Study the climate and geology of Mars;
• Demonstration of technology for future missions to Mars.

The Perseverance mission is expected to last at least one Martian year, which translates to about 687 days on Earth. However, previous opportunities and the Curiosity rover served well beyond the expected timeframe.

Firmness Technical Sheet

Although it is very close to its predecessor Curiosity in terms of overall design, persistence benefited from several technological advances at the time.

• Length: 3 meters
• Weight: 1.025 kg
• Six aluminum wheels with titanium spokes
• Maximum speed: just under 152 meters per hour

Perseverance also has seven measuring instruments on board that will help it in its mission:

Mastcam-z : This camera system mounted on the rover’s mast will be his eyes. Its main functions are “high-definition video, full-color and 3D panoramic images of the Mars surface and elements in the atmosphere with zoom to raise distant targets.” It is thanks to Mastcam that we will all enjoy stunning images of Mars.

MOXIE : The Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment is one of the methods that will strongly help prepare for the first manned mission to Mars. The device is designed to make oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere. This would not only be necessary for future human explorers, but it would also make it possible to manufacture fuel for rockets that would bring astronauts back to Earth.

Supercam : When you bring a camera, a laser, and a spectrometer together, you get a Supercam, a device that will search for organic compounds, a key element in the search for signs of past microorganism life. “It can identify the chemical and mineralogical composition of the target as small as a pencil point at a distance of more than 7 meters,” NASA detailed Supercam.

Sherlock : “Scanning Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals”, or Sherlock, will be the task of finding signs of life on the red planet. The device and the accompanying camera (nicknamed Watson) are capable of taking and analyzing microscopic images of Mars soil. Sherlock is equipped with a laser that can point at the surface to measure chemical components in soil and rock using a technique called spectroscopy.

A helicopter will also fly on mars

Under the belly of the firmament is a small helicopter designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the red planet. It will remain stored this way for a few months while the rover arrives at a site suitable for its deployment. A mechanism would then allow it to be placed on the ground before moving away firmly so that it could take off. This would be a great first technology that would pave the way for a new model of supernatural exploration.

For further

Image: NASA

Article from CNET.com adapted by CNETFrance