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How Did Perseverance Pick Its Mars Landing Spot? NASA Engineer Explains
More than a year after NASA launched the Perseverance rover for Mars, the space agency is bringing the focus back on how its precise landing spot was decided or who chose where it should land. In an Instagram post, NASA said that the rover made the decision moments before it touched down on the surface on February 18 this year. The rover landed in the Jezero crater, which is believed to have hosted a big lake and a river delta in ancient times. The mission objective is to see whether these once-existing water bodies can throw some light on past life on Mars.
NASA thanked engineer Swati Mohan and a new technology called Terrain Relative Navigation for making the most challenging landing ever attempted on Mars a success. NASA’s latest Instagram post accompanied a video of Mohan, explaining how Perseverance picked its landing spot.