100 Days From Arrival, JPL Readies Perseverance Rover for Mars Landing

Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been busily preparing their Perseverance Mars Rover for its landing on the Red Planet, scheduled to take place in 100 days.

Now well over halfway on its journey of more than 292 million miles, teams at JPL are already working to leave nothing to chance during the complicated landing sequence, JPL said in a written statement.

Upon reaching Mars on Feb. 18, the rover will plunge into the Martian atmosphere at 11,900 mph. After being slowed by the thin atmosphere, parachutes will further decelerate the rover before rocket motors ignite and gently lower the rover to the ground via a cable. The technique is similar to that used to land JPL’s Mars Curiosity rover in August 2012, at which time engineers labeled the process, “Seven Minutes of Terror.”

Until then, systems and procedures are to be prepared, checked and rechecked.

“While we call the six-and-a-half-month trip from Earth to Mars ‘cruise,’ I assure you there is not much croquet going on at the lido deck,” said JPL Project Manager John McNamee. “Between checking out the spacecraft, and planning and simulating our landing and surface operations, the entire team is on the clock, working toward our exploration of Jezero Crater.”

The team confirmed on Monday that the propulsion system of the substage, which will lower Perseverance onto Mars, was “in good working order,” the statement said.

They planned to perform checkups on the rover’s scientific instruments and camera over the coming days.

“Down the road, on Dec. 18, the team plans to perform a trajectory correction maneuver, using the cruise stage’s eight thrusters to refine the spacecraft’s path toward Mars,” according to the JPL statement.

Enter the ‘Gremlins’

Planning for the unexpected is a major part of the mission, officials said. The team has already gone through several test scenarios simulating important mission milestones to come.

“During some of these multi-day-long tests, the team encounters unexpected challenges thrown their way by colleagues who play the role of ‘gremlins,’” the statement said. “Even with the challenges introduced during a landing rehearsal back on Oct. 29, the team was able to successfully land a simulated Perseverance rover on Mars.”

A five-day simulation to prepare the team for surface operations on Mars is planned for Monday.

Then in December, “the team is expecting a gremlin or two to make an appearance during another five-day simulation of the rover’s transition from landing to surface operations,” the statement said.

The SUV-size Perseverance rover will explore Mars on six wheels, hunting for signs of ancient microbial life, collecting rock and dust samples for future collection by another mission, and helping set the stage for a manned mission to Mars, according to JPL.

It carries a suite of new and high-tech instruments, including a small helicopter scientists hope will become the first to fly on another planet.

It blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 30.

More information on the Perseverance Mars rover is available online at nasa.gov/perseverance.

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