Congratulations to Nasa, the rover is down safely.

[mattthemuppet]

I just watched a similar video with my eldest daughter - we both got goose bumps watching the retrothrusters (is there a cooler word?) kicking up dust from the surface. When I taught Astrobiology 3 or 4 years ago one of the questions was which landing site would be picked. They were all cool, but I thought Jezero Crater was the coolest from a biology point of view as a former river delta. Can't wait to see the results that get sent back, this mission is really a big step change from everything that has come before.

Speaking of cool videos, this one from the Huygens probe landing on Titan always gives me goosebumps

[aostling]

This amazing video shows the sequence of events, from first to last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY

[JRouche]

If interested and you watch TV Nova has a great show on currently on PBS. Its a show discussing all the goodies this vehicle has on and in it all narrated by the Scientists that built it. Very interesting.

NOVA S48:E5 "Looking for Life on Mars"

JR

[macona]

Video from the landing is finally up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czjS9h4Fpg&feature=emb_logo

[SteveF]

.......................

I'm wondering- have they ever used SAR to look into the crust like they can on earth? Wouldn't it just spin heads if they found a skeleton-

I wouldn't be surprised. Marvin the Martian won't live forever.

Steve

[old mart]

This one has ground penetrating radar in its inventory.

[darryl]

The question is- did anybody at control get even a slight twinge when the probe actually landed, as opposed to when the radio signal arrived? They must have been thinking about it- seven minutes earlier, they were looking around at each other 'do you think it landed?' 'I don't know, I hope so' 'did you feel anything?' 'not sure, my eyelid twitched' - and then there's Whoopie from star trek, slinking into the room, looking around cautiously- says 'you don't need to be worried, it's ok'. Then all the monitors blip out, for just a second, and she's gone- Nobody speaks for the next 6 minutes and 37 seconds-

That's a great achievement, landing that thing with no apparent damage- we really are in an age now where that science fiction fantasy stuff has actually come into being. Arthur C Clarke would about be pissing himself right now-

What an adventure! A few days ago I saw probably the best releases of pics from Mars- hi res, looked pretty cool. This Cadillac will be sending more.

I'm wondering- have they ever used SAR to look into the crust like they can on earth? Wouldn't it just spin heads if they found a skeleton-

[JRouche]

I dont know much, I do know that this "probe" is significant.

And it is a Multi-National effort (love that).

The tech that is on that vehicle is more than we have ever sent outward. We as in us are getting better.

I dont follow up on these space events due to the time it takes. I was completely off balance when I heard it was only 9 months to get there. I had no idea Mars was getting that "close" compared to the other Missions that took far longer.

When I saw the time of flight first thing that popped into my head was all the Astronauts that are biting at the bit to take the flight. WoW. Great times.

Oh, and when the samples of the Planet come home to Roost here around 2031. You think the vid is something. Just kidding.

I like the space program, Im just way too afraid of heights to get it JR

[darryl]

!!!

[Bob Engelhardt]

That was SO much harder than just getting there & orbiting. Getting there & orbiting is like driving to the base of Mt. Everest & landing is like getting to Everest's top. No other country has landed & half of the US missions to land have failed.

[aostling]

While I was watching the Perseverance Rover landing, I thought back to the summer of 1964. I was then an intern at JPL. We were all gathered in the auditorium during the final minutes of the Ranger 7 mission, which was to send back close-up photos of the lunar surface. (The previous six missions had all been failures). By design the Ranger mission ended with a crash landing, which made things a lot easier. Gerard Kuiper was in the audience too, and he made a joyous speech after the success was confirmed.

We have come a long way in those intervening fifty-seven years.

[A.K. Boomer]

The control room reporting was always present tense "The lander velocity is 900m/s & altitude 6 km" (or whatever). But that was 3 minutes ago - the time for the signal to travel here. I wonder if they have a sense of that or if "now" is when they see it, not when it happened. It's also a little strange how serious they are about status when there's nothing that they can do about a problem. Too late.

For sure --- would be like the star trek equivalent of hearing James T. Kirk saying "Scotty I need warp 7 in 3 seconds or were all dead" and then the guys back here just saying "oh crap" the second they got the info ...

[JRouche]

Good news for a change, the NASA Perseverance Rover has made a successful landing.
Somebody please wipe the dust off the camera lenses.

Very good times with the tech we get to experience. JR

[Bob Engelhardt]

The control room reporting was always present tense "The lander velocity is 900m/s & altitude 6 km" (or whatever). But that was 11 minutes ago - the time for the signal to travel here. I wonder if they have a sense of that or if "now" is when they see it, not when it happened. It's also a little strange how serious they are about status when there's nothing that they can do about a problem. Too late.

[plunger]

Lets hope something interesting shows up. Amazing technology