19/02/2021 14:30
Mars Perseverance rover project has big potential for future, expert says
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is a project with big potential for the future aimed at human exploration of the Red Planet, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics Andrei Ionin told TASS on Friday.
The Perseverance rover touched down the Red Planet’s surface in the area of Jezero Crater on February 18. All the operations were conducted in the automatic mode. For several months now, a full check of the rover’s systems and equipment will be carried out. NASA specialists expect to find the traces of ancient life on Mars with the rover’s assistance.
"This is an advance. This is a project with a big focus on the future," the expert stressed.
Flights in the Red Planet’s atmosphere are the rover’s most interesting task, the Russian scientist said.
A transport vehicle, which NASA calls the Ingenuity helicopter, is expected to detach from the rover and make several flights. "This is a new technical solution and this is interesting. This is a peculiar invention, the icing on the cake," the expert said.
It is problematic to fly in the Martian atmosphere because it is extremely rarified compared to Earth, Ionin specified. "On the surface of Mars, the density is the same as on Earth at an altitude of about 40 km. As you understand, only military aircraft or stratosphere balloons fly at an altitude of 40 km in Earth’s conditions," the expert added.
The Russian scientist compared the Ingenuity helicopter to a small drone off-road vehicle drivers sometimes use to map a route.
Previous rovers sometimes fell into a trap of stones and into cracks, which they could not exit for a long time. A new technical solution will help avoid these problems, the expert stressed.