The Perseverance Mars rover photographs its own landing debris

On Mars, there’s a distinctive kind of “tumbleweed” rolling throughout the Martian plains.

These tumbleweeds will not be crops – they’re particles from the entry, descent and touchdown (EDL) tools of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Percy encountered many of those stays, photographing them so engineers might examine them.

Throughout his touchdown on February 18, 2021, various {hardware} parts slowed the spacecraft’s velocity from 12,500 mph (20,000 km/h) when it first entered the Martian environment to nearly zero miles per hour when it first entered the Martian environment. been gently positioned on the floor by a celestial crane. And all of it occurred in simply seven minutes.

Associated: 7 new minutes of terror: See the biting Mars landings of NASA’s Perseverance rover on this video

After their work was accomplished, EDL {hardware} just like the parachute, rear shell, warmth defend, and sky crane have been all dropped from the Perseverance rover, crashing down on Mars a ways from the rover in order to not harm it. .

Over the previous yr and a half, the Perseverance staff has noticed and cataloged about half a dozen suspected EDL particles. The primary piece was found on April 16, 2022, when an unusually vivid object was noticed in certainly one of Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z panoramic images. “The fabric was given a descriptive title: ‘shiny materials.’ come,” NASA wrote in a weblog put up (opens in a brand new tab).

A number of months later, Perseverance arrived at this place within the delta, known as Hogwallow Flats. On June 12, 2022, he photographed the mysterious object, believed to be a bit of Sky Crane Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI), product of perforated aluminized Kapton (PAK) or Mylar, which flutters within the wind like a flag . . In the identical space, the rover additionally took a snapshot of a fast-moving knotted ball of “string-like materials”. It may very well be Dacron, a mesh utilized in thermal blankets, in keeping with the operations staff.

Apparently, Hogwallow Flats is over 1.25 miles (two kilometers) from Perseverance’s EDL {hardware} crash zones. “Hogwallow Flats seems to be a pure assortment level for windblown EDL particles,” NASA notes.

The Helicopter Companion of Perseverance Ingenuity moved nearer to among the particles from the EDL. On April 19, 2022, Ingenuity flew over the crash website of Perseverance’s rear hull and parachute, take excessive decision pictures of the particles.

Such deliberately thrown particles fields will not be unusual on Mars, as landings on the Purple Planet are often considerably violent occasions. Each Alternative and Curiosity the rovers additionally photographed what’s believed to be their very own EDL particles.

For now, touchdown spacecraft safely on Mars is the primary precedence, however as we proceed to plant rovers on the planet, researchers might want to think about the results of this house junk. “Engineers designing EDL {hardware} for future missions might want to think about the influence (actually) of their designs on each Mars and mission necessities,” NASA stated.

Comply with Stefanie Waldek on Twitter @StefanieWaldek (opens in a brand new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a brand new tab) and on Fb (opens in a brand new tab).