NASA's Perseverance Rover Spacecraft Put in Launch Configuration
Stacking spacecraft components on top of each other is one of the final assembly steps before a mission launches to the Red Planet.
Engineers
working on NASA's Perseverance rover mission at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida have begun the process of placing the Mars-bound rover and other
spacecraft components into the configuration they'll be in as they ride on top
of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The launch period for the mission
opens on July 17 - just 70 days from now.
Called
"vehicle stacking," the process began on April 23 with the
integration of the rover and its rocket-powered descent stage. One of the first
steps in the daylong operation was to lift the descent stage onto Perseverance so
that engineers could connect the two with flight-separation bolts.
When it's time for the rover to touch down on Mars, these
three bolts will be released by small pyrotechnic charges, and the spacecraft
will execute the sky crane maneuver: Nylon cords spool out through what are
called bridle exit guides to lower the rover 25 feet (7.6 meters) below the
descent stage. Once Perseverance senses it's on the surface, pyrotechnically-fired
blades will sever the cords, and the descent stage flies off. The sky crane
maneuver ensures Perseverance will land on the Martian surface free of any
other spacecraft components, eliminating the need for a complex deployment
procedure.
"Attaching the rover to the descent stage is a major
milestone for the team because these are the first spacecraft components to
come together for launch, and they will be the last to separate when we reach
Mars," said
David Gruel, the Perseverance rover assembly, test, and launch operations manager
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages rover
operations. "These two assemblies will remain firmly nestled
together until they are about 65 feet [20 meters] over the surface of
Mars."
On April 29, the rover and descent stage were attached to the cone-shaped back shell, which contains the
parachute and, along with the mission's heat shield, provides protection for
the rover and descent stage during Martian atmospheric entry.
Whether they are working
on final assembly of the vehicle at Kennedy Space Center, testing software and
subsystems at JPL or (as the majority of the team is doing) teleworking due to coronavirus safety
precautions, the Perseverance team remains on track to meet the opening of the
rover's launch period. No matter what day Perseverance launches, it will land at Mars'
Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.
The Perseverance rover's
astrobiology mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life. It will also
characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future
return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. The
Perseverance rover mission is part of a larger program that includes missions
to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a
sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis
lunar exploration plans.
For more information about
the mission, go to:
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
For more about NASA's Moon
to Mars plans, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars
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