Published 12:34 IST, August 18th 2020
Mars rover Perseverance successfully completes first Trajectory Correction Maneuver
Perseverance the heart of NASA’s $ 2.7 billion Mars mission cleared its route towards the red planet with a trajectory-correction maneuver.
- Science News
- 2 min read
On August 14, Perseverance the heart of NASA’s $ 2.7 billion Mars mission cleared its route towards the red planet with a trajectory-correction maneuver, 15 days after it was launched. In the cruise phase, the rover used eight thrusters to change movement. The news of this trajectory correction was shared on twitter by the official account of NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover. Sharing this NASA wrote “My first planned Trajectory Correction Maneuver was a success. I do TCMs on my journey to stay on target for a February 18, 2021 date with Mars. I left Earth over 2 weeks ago and already put on 27+ million miles. Only ~265 million more to go”.
NASA has planned five trajectory correction maneuvers for the rover, which will lead it to pinpoint landing inside of Mars’ Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. The four remaining engine burns will take place in the coming months. NASA has decided September 28, December 20, February 10, and February 16 for other trajectory corrections. Perseverance was launched on July 30, its mission is to find out ancient Mars life inside 45 kilometers wide Jezero Crater. It will also collect samples for a future return to Earth, which is expected in 2031.
Rotorcraft flight
Mars 2020 mission will experiment on new exploration technologies as well. For example, a tiny helicopter named Ingenuity is traveling to the mars on the rover's belly and will attempt the first-ever rotorcraft flight to another planet. NASA officials said, one of Perseverance's instruments, called Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment will generate oxygen from the carbon dioxide-dominated Martian atmosphere. A scaled-up version of MOXIE could one day help human pioneers get a foothold on the red planet.
Updated 12:34 IST, August 18th 2020