There’s a special kind of anxiety that comes from trying out a robotic project for the first time. No matter the size, complexity, or how much design and planning has gone into it, the first time a creation moves under its own power can put butterflies in anyone’s stomach. So we can imagine that many people at NASA are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Perseverance rover has completed its first successful test drive on Mars.
To be fair, Perseverance was tested here on Earth before launch. However, this is the first drive since the roving scientific platform was packed into a capsule, set on top of a rocket, and flung hundreds of millions of miles (or kilometers, take your pick) to the surface of another planet. As such, and true to NASA form, the operators are taking things slow.
This joyride certainly won’t be setting speed records. The atomic-powered vehicle traveled a total of just 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in 33 minutes, including forward, reverse, and a 150 degree turn in-between. That’s enough for the mobility team to check out the drive systems and deem the vehicle worthy of excursions that could range 656 feet (200 meters) or more. Perseverance is packed with new technology, including an autonomous navigation system for avoiding hazards without waiting for round-trip communication with Earth, and everything must be tested before being put into full use.
A couple weeks have passed since the world was captivated by actual video of the rover’s entry, descent, and landing, and milestones like this mark the end of that flashy, rocket-powered skycrane period and the beginning of a more settled-in period, where the team works day-to-day in pursuit of the mission’s science goals. The robotic arm and several on-board sensors and experiments have already completed their initial checks. In the coming months, we can look forward to tons of data coming back from the red planet, along with breathtaking pictures of its alien surface and what will hopefully be the first aircraft flown on another world.
“Perseverance is packed with new technology, including an autonomous navigation system for avoiding hazards without waiting for round-trip communication with Earth, and everything must be tested before being put into full use.”
That’ll be handy when Martians cross it’s path.
It will be handy for when Mark Watney needs to summon it.
“This joyride certainly won’t be setting speed records. The atomic-powered vehicle traveled a total of just 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in 33 minutes.”
Yah, that’s only about 3.3 cm per second, the Martian land speed record is 5 cm per second, open it up, see what it can do!
Hopefully that is slow enough not to scare the wild alien life there ;p
Slow enough to give everyone a chance at a selfie.
Actually it looks like the math works out to 0.33 cm per second, even slower
Whoops, dropping decimals, I need to check my math three times, I also lose the sign a lot so that’s probably -0.33 cm/sec
Why so slow?
Not an American but if i was, i would completely support my tax dollars being used for an experimental high speed mini rover for next mars mission
Remember when powered vehicles were first used on earth? Well they couldn’t afford to send the guy with the red flag to run in front of it.
For realsies though, it’s probably all about not tipping it over in high speed hijinks, and ensuring it doesn’t come a cropper on potholes etc,… they don’t want to have to turn the live feed off so a tech can walk onto the soundstage and put it right side up again :-D
If there’s no air on Mars, why is it called an “aircraft”?
Shouldn’t it be called atmosferocraft or just flying craft?
Mars does have an atmosphere. Martian air has a different composition and density than air on Earth but it is evidenced in Martian winds, dust devils and functional aerodynamic devices like the parachutes used to decelerate landers.