The Mars explorer Perseverance landed on the surface of Mars on February 18, 2021. It then took a few weeks before the cart could even take its first steps, because all systems first had to be thoroughly tested.
The first ride happened finally on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, when the Perseverance drove some 5 meters on the surface of the red planet. Scientists at NASA were overjoyed, because that indicated that the robot had survived the journey in one piece.
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Then the experiments followed each other in rapid succession. Among the most notable of these were the flights of Ingenuity, a small helicopter accompanying Perseverance. On April 19, 2021, the craft took its first short test flight, becoming the first flying vehicle on the red planet.
The first test flight had to experience whether the helicopter could get off the ground. The subsequent flights lasted longer and went further and further. During his longest flight flew Ingenuity no less than 625 meters away.
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Shortly after the first test flight, the Mars explorer performed another first. On April 20, 2021 produced oxygen using an on-board device. It did so by taking carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere. It was the first time oxygen had been produced on another planet.
The atmosphere of the red planet is made up of about 95 percent carbon dioxide. As the technology matures, NASA hopes that astronauts on future Mars missions may be able to produce their own oxygen. That would be more economical than bringing large amounts of oxygen from Earth.
First road trip
In June, the rover started work. After all, Perserverance landed in Jezero Crater, which scientists strongly suspect once contained a lake. That makes it the ideal candidate for a search for traces of life.
Over the next few months, the Mars explorer would embark on a veritable road trip, traveling miles to explore the crater. In August, the rover tried to collect a first soil sample, but failed.
In the end could Perseverance will do that in September. It drilled a hole in a stone, after which the grit was collected in a small tube. Perseverance is supposed to collect some monsters and keep them safe on the red planet. The samples will thereafter are picked up by another Mars mission, who must bring them back to Earth in the 1930s.
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200 meters per day
Meanwhile, the Mars explorer happily continues its mission, covering some 200 meters each day. That’s not bad at all for a robot that is 150 million kilometers from Earth.
Earlier this month, the rover even broke a record: Perseverance drove about 245.76 meters in one day. That is the longest distance ever traveled by a Mars rover in one day.
Perseverance still has a long way to go before the mission breaks the absolute distance record. The Mars Rover Opportunity laid about 45 kilometers in 15 years. That’s about 15 times more than the Perseverance has driven so far.
Short lifespan
Perseverance may not have enough time to make up for that distance. According to NASA will run the mission “at least two years,” but the space agency doesn’t give an exact lifespan. According to the US Energy Agency, which supplied Perseverance’s generator, it should theoretically have enough energy to keep the rover alive for 14 years.
During that time, Perseverance will continue its mission. In total, more than 40 test tubes must be collected and prepared for the Sample Return Mission. If all goes well, it will be the first time in history that humans have brought material from another planet to Earth.
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