NASA Invites Public to Share Thrill of Mars Perseverance Rover Landing
February 15, 2021 | NASAEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
Editor's Note: I-Connect007 ran an interview with Leland Holeman and Amelia Cook, the owners of Goodwinds Composites, fabricators of some of the key components for the onboard helicopter, named Ingenuity. Revisit the interview as you follow the landing on February 18.
NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities and events as the agency’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover nears entry, descent, and landing on the Red Planet, with touchdown scheduled for approximately 3:55 p.m. EST Thursday, February 18.
Live coverage and landing commentary from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will begin at 2:15 p.m. on the NASA TV Public Channel and the agency’s website, as well as the NASA App, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion, and THETA.TV.
Among the many firsts with this mission is the agency’s first-ever Spanish-language show for a planetary landing. On Thursday, Feb. 18, at 2:30 p.m., NASA will air “Juntos perseveramos,” a show that will give viewers an overview of the mission to Mars and highlight the role Hispanic NASA professionals have had in its success.
During landing, the rover will plunge through the thin Martian atmosphere at more than 12,000 mph (about 20,000 kph). A parachute and powered descent will slow the rover down to about 2 mph (3 kph). During what is known as the sky crane maneuver, the descent stage will lower the rover on three cables to land softly on six wheels at Jezero Crater.
Perseverance also is carrying a technology experiment – the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter – that will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
“If there’s one thing we know, it’s that landing on Mars is never easy,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Communications Marc Etkind. “But as NASA’s fifth Mars rover, Perseverance has an extraordinary engineering pedigree and mission team. We are excited to invite the entire world to share this exciting event with us!”
NASA is offering many ways for the public to participate and stay up to date on landing information, mission highlights, and interaction opportunities.
Watch and Participate Virtually
Connect with like-minded space enthusiasts, receive a NASA Social badge, ask questions, and take part in other virtual activities by signing up for the Perseverance Rover Virtual NASA Social event.
NASA also will provide a virtual guest experience for members of the public during landing, with notifications about mission updates, curated mission resources, and a virtual passport stamp available after landing.
Stay connected and let people know you're following the mission on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Join the conversation, ask questions, and get answers online by using #CountdownToMars.
At 7 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 16, a NASA Social live show previewing landing day will stream live via the JPL YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.
You also can follow every step of entry, descent, and landing with this visualization, and get a preview of all the excitement with a new video.
Opportunities for Students, Teachers, Educators
Design, build, and land your own spacecraft – just like NASA scientists and engineers do. Join NASA’s Mission to Mars Student Challenge, where classrooms, informal education groups, families and individuals will be able to participate in landing week question-and-answer sessions with mission experts and submit student questions and work that could be featured during NASA broadcasts leading up to and on landing day.
A Mars 2020 STEM toolkit also is available, with stories on the students who named Perseverance and Ingenuity, opportunities to code your own Mars exploration games, and more.
Join scientists from NASA and JPL at a briefing of the National Academies Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 11:30 am EST to hear more about Perseverance’s journey to Mars’ Jezero Crater, NASA’s Mars Sample Return, and the challenges the team has overcome. Participants include:
- Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science
- Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division
- Bobby Braun, Mars Sample Return program manager at JPL
- Matt Wallace, deputy project manager, Mars 2020 at JPL
- Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 deputy project scientist at JPL
RELATED VIDEO:
Suggested Items
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: My Role as a Technology Solutions Director
05/02/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOPeter Tranitz, senior director of technology solutions at IPC, shares insights into his role as the design initiative lead. He details his advocacy work, industry support, and the responsibilities of the design initiative committee. The conversation also covers the revamping of standards, the IPC Design Competition, and the implementation of design rules in software tools.
Seeking Employment: Palash Pranav Vyas
05/03/2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Despite skilled worker shortages across the industry, there are many educated and qualified individuals ready to contribute to electronics manufacturing. Here we profile Palash Pranav Vyas, a Ph.D. candidate at Auburn University whose work in drop shock reliability won him Best Student Poster at IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
iNEMI Names Grace O'Malley CTO
05/02/2024 | iNEMIThe Board of Directors of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) has named Grace O'Malley Chief Technical Officer (CTO).
Gartner Survey Finds 61% of Organizations Are Evolving Their D&A Operating Model Because of AI Technologies
05/01/2024 | Gartner, Inc.Sixty-one percent of organizations are forced to evolve or rethink their data and analytics (D&A) operating model because of the impact of disruptive artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to a new Gartner, Inc. survey.
GPV’s Q1 2024 Interim Financial Report Shows Strong Navigation in Uncertain Times
05/01/2024 | GPVDanish-based GPV recorded an expected drop in sales to DKK 2.3 billion for the first quarter of 2024. The decline also affected the operating profit, which was DKK 155 million compared to DKK 179 million in the same quarter last year, although the EBITDA margin was maintained. In general, demand has been softer in 2024, but GPV continues to invest for the long-term and expects the trend to turn in the second half of 2024.