3 Months On Mars: Perseverance

in just three short months the perseverance rover has captured over 70 000 images multiple audio recordings and more than four videos of the mars helicopter in flight strange noises undisclosed family portraits and relics brought from earth are just some of the things revealed over the first leg of this incredible mission this is three months on mars february 18 2021 the perseverance rover makes history by recording its descent and landing a coded message is hidden in the coloring of the parachute which reads the phrase dare mighty things the heat shield is released giving us a clear view of the surface the landing is fully automated the craft is now checking for the best spot to land the sky crane maneuver is initiated the video footage you are watching is currently being transmitted to the rover through a cable before the cable is cut and the descent stage flies away to crash land the perseverance rover is safely on the ground this is the first color image nasa receives we are now in the jezreel crater which is thought to be an ancient river delta it's not just the rover that has landed on mars along with it is the ingenuity helicopter safely stowed underneath and the names of nearly 11 million earthlings on these three fingernail-sized chips the names are physically written not stored electronically this was done with the help of an electron beam allowing the riding of very tiny features less than one micron the engineering team at nasa spends the next few days snapping pictures of all the systems aboard the rover checking for any damage caused during the descent during the following days the team will begin to stretch out all the movable components leading up to the rover's first drive on february 20th the first sounds are obtained from the jezreel crater using the microphone on board the rover at this point the rover's mast which the microphone is attached to is still stowed away so the sounds are a little muffled a little wind can be heard but mainly we hear the high pitched noise of the rover [Music] itself this next recording has been filtered allowing us to hear the martian wind a little clearer the perseverance rover continues to take images of itself and its surroundings a pattern is seen on the rover in some of these pictures this is actually a family portrait attached to the rover and from left to right shows the rover's sojourner spirit opportunity curiosity and perseverance with ingenuity the little helicopter in the top right here is an image of the portrait in preparation before launch on february 21st or the third martian day perseverance captures this full circle panorama the jezero crater is thought to be one of the most likely places to find evidence of ancient life on mars perseverance has the ability to cache samples which can be returned to earth in the future this image shows the remnants of a delta located 1.4 miles or 2.3 kilometers away from the rover it is around 10 meters tall the team at nasa give the feature a nickname kodiak now that most checks have been completed it is time to start moving the rover this series of images shows perseverance's arm begin to flex now that the arm is deployed its instruments can be tested on a rock the team at nasa decides to zap a nearby rock with the laser and even capture audio of the rock being zapped the rover's super cam instrument also takes a close look at the rock the sounds of 30 impacts are heard some slightly louder than others variations in the intensity of the zapping sounds can provide information on the physical structure of the target on march 4th the team wiggles one of perseverance's wheels this set of images shows the wiggling there isn't really anything else the engineers can test before the all-important first drive the first drive goes ahead on the same day lasting 33 minutes it is a resounding success the rover stops to take a look at its first tracks on mars incredibly the microphone on board also captured sounds from the drive many people when viewing the images don't presume that the wheels are actually metal but with this recording we can hear the bangs pings and rattles from metal wheels rolling over the rocks also present in the recording is a high-pitched scratching noise which the team has yet to explain in a second version of the recording the team at nasa isolates the noise of the wheels interacting with the ground [Music] now that the rover is mobile the team switches their full attention towards finding a spot to deploy the helicopter it's a complicated procedure which once started cannot be reversed they have to be sure before beginning the process on march 21st the debris shield protecting the helicopter is dropped perseverance will drive away and leave it a site is proposed for ingenuity to be deployed and an area named vanzil overlook is where perseverance will retreat to in order to watch the flights the whole deployment process takes about six days with controlled explosions destroying bolts that attach both explorers as soon as ingenuity is deployed we want our big friend to drive away as fast as possible so the helicopter's solar panels can keep the battery charged with ingenuity successfully deployed the helicopter's camera can be tested and captures this image meanwhile perseverance takes a quick selfie looking at its little partner perseverance will now retreat to vanzil overlook the team must now test the helicopter's blades perseverance watches the nerve racking test unfortunately the spin test is concluded early and nasa must delay the first flight in order to investigate the issue to pass the time perseverance is evaluating whether nearby rocks at the vanzil overlook form during a volcanic eruption or from water depositing sediments the rover also captures this zoomed in image of ingenuity solar panels dust can be seen covering a portion of the panels which could cause problems for the little helicopter the mission planners draw up two potential routes however the end goal of reaching neretva valles is one everybody desires for perseverance even the visual look of that area supports the theory that it was once an ancient river nasa now believes ingenuity's problem is with its software and hurries to fix the issue perseverance now watches a second spin test which ingenuity passes with flying colors on april 19 2021 ingenuity makes history by being the first vehicle to perform a controlled powered flight on another world this video taken by perseverance shows ingenuity hovering for almost 40 seconds to honor the occasion nasa has made a request for a small patch of fabric from the first plane ever to fly on earth to be included on the helicopter the piece of fabric from the wright brothers plane has now flown on mars nasa also renames the flight field to wright brothers field if the first flight wasn't enough on april 20th or sol 60 perseverance converts some of the martian atmosphere to oxygen a toaster-sized experimental instrument aboard the rover called moxie accomplished the task in one hour of operation enough oxygen is produced to keep an astronaut healthy for about 10 minutes of normal activity this method of oxygen production will be crucial when humans visit mars this experiment is the first to prove the concept on another planet the team at nasa wastes no time getting ingenuity flying again and on april 22nd a second flight test is conducted this time the helicopter goes a little higher five meters to be precise [Music] this was also the first time the color camera onboard ingenuity was used producing these images from the sky the rover's tracks can be seen on the ground below during ingenuity's third flight on april 25th the little helicopter zooms out of the shot as confidence grows the team is allowing ingenuity greater freedom this image captured from the sky shows our big friend the perseverance rover watching in the top left corner meanwhile perseverance is busy looking at this hill nicknamed santa cruz it's located about 1.5 miles or 2.5 kilometers away from the rover the entire scene is inside of the jezero crater the crater's rim can be seen on the horizon beyond the hill incredibly during the helicopter's fourth flight perseverance recorded the humming of the blades the team at nasa put together this next short segment [Music] up until this point ingenuity has been instructed to land where it started however for its fifth flight the team decides to let the helicopter land at another location one they had spotted during the previous flights in this video we can even see a dust devil forming behind the helicopter this could be caused by ingenuity itself or simply happening independently at the time of the flight [Music] this image captured by the helicopter shows its new landing ground dubbed flight field b [Music] now that the flight technology has been fully demonstrated ingenuity will act as an aerial scout for perseverance to help with the main mission of finding signs of ancient microbial life from here on out the rover will continue its journey on the vast martian plains with ingenuity by its side [Music] on may 10th perseverance uses its watson instrument to take a close-up of a rock the team is still trying to figure out if these rocks are basalt or if they were formed from the movement of water it is currently unknown what the rover will find during the next three months but we will be here to document it this video is the start of a special series following the perseverance rover as it makes astounding new discoveries click here to see the next video in the series if you enjoyed this video remember to like subscribe and share thanks for watching elder fox you

Channel: ElderFox Documentaries

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Keywords: elderfox, elder fox, elderfox documentaries, Perseverance rover, Perserverance rover, perserverence rover, Inginuity helicopter, Ingenuity helicopter, mars drone, mars helicopter

Id: WNrTttvdIMc

Length: 15min 16sec (916 seconds)

Published: Tue May 18 2021