NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover: expert comment
An expert from RMIT University is available to talk to media about NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars in the Jezero crater on Friday 19 February. This is the first of three spacecraft to land on Mars, after the US, UAE and China all launched Martian landers in July 2020.
Dr Gail Iles (gail.iles@rmit.edu.au or via RMIT media line: +61 439 704 077)
Topics: Rocket launches, Mars orbiters/landers/probes, Mars rovers, Moon, lunar orbiters/landers/probes
“On Friday, the Mars rover, Perseverance will end its seven-month journey to the red planet and – if all goes well – land on the surface of Mars in the Jezero crater.
“Perseverance is the 9th spacecraft NASA has sent to land on Mars but is the first to specifically look for signs of life.
“The rover has four science objectives; looking for habitability, seeking biosignatures, catching samples and preparing for humans.
“Perseverance has specialised equipment on board, including the first Mars helicopter – a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another world. It will be the first time in human history that this test will take place, sometime in the next few weeks.
“The rover is also equipped with some microphones so that we can listen to the Martian winds – another first.
“Closer to home, Aussie scientists will be tracking the landing of the rover from the Deep Space Network complex in Canberra.
“The DSN has a direct link to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles and will take over operations of Perseverance an hour after landing.
“In July 2020, NASA invited the world’s population to ‘check-in’ and submit their name for inclusion on Perseverance. 10.9 million tiny names are etched onto silicon chips on board Perseverance, labelled as ‘Explorers’.”
Dr Gail Iles is a Senior Lecturer of Physics in the School of Science at RMIT University and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics. She researches the properties of materials such as water dynamics in Martian minerals and magnetism and holds a medal for extensive time spent experimenting in zero-gravity.
RMIT aerospace experts Dr Graham Dorrington and Professor Cees Bil will commentate the landing during a live online stream from 7.30am AEDT on Friday. More information: https://twitter.com/DefenceRmit/status/1361157946277695494
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For media enquiries, please contact RMIT Communications: 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au
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