There are more vehicles on the surface of the Red Planet than in some regions on Earth. There are currently five robots, of which only two are active: Curiosity and persistence. Both are doing hard work to help us better understand the Martian terrain and pave the way for future manned missions. They did all this, of course, by learning from the weaknesses and strengths of their predecessors. And it was this training that led Perseverance to record results. speed on Mars.
As NASA scientists explained in a study published in Scientific roboticsThe rover sent to the Red Planet in 2020 managed to make the trip 347.7 meters in one day, something unthinkable for the other robots that are there. It also broke another record by completing the longest journey without human inspection ever made by any vehicle on this planet. No more, no less than 699.9 meters completely autonomous.
To achieve this speed record on Mars, cameras and navigation systems played a vital role, allowing us to travel long distances, even over the most challenging terrain. stone, without danger to Perseverance. Thanks to this, spending less time on travel, much more remains for science. And in the end, that’s what matters most to the scientists behind this project.
Almost 20 years of navigation on the Red Planet
The first rover successfully sent to Mars was Sojourner, a robot the size of a microwave oven, which landed on the neighboring planet in July 1997. Its main mission was to study what appears to be the remains of an ancient flood. This took him a total of 85 Earth days, during which he sent about 500 images to the ground.
He couldn’t move much, as he had to stop every 50 centimeters to calculate his next move. This problem was solved by Perseverance’s navigation system. But the truth is that this rover could not have been optimized as much without the knowledge NASA gained through Sojourner. And not only with him, but also with his other predecessors: Opportunity, spirit and curiosity. Thanks to them, he managed to break an interesting speed record on Mars.
The benefits of setting a speed record on Mars
Near the landing site of Perseverance, there is a stone field more than 500 meters wide, which made its movement very difficult. I could work around this, but it would take many more days, taking away research time. For this reason, the rover used its cameras and its navigation system calculate the best way to move right on the rocksgoing very far in a short time.
This freed up much more time for take data. This is important because its mission includes many functions, from searching for signs of life on Mars to analyzing its sounds.
He even collected soil samples, although they could not yet be sent to Earth. In fact, a report was recently published that concluded that current technology is not advanced enough for delivery and that we may have to wait until 2030. But it normal. Perseverance has already broken the speed record on Mars, and this is just an example of what it can achieve. He will continue to give us good news, that much is clear.
Source: Hiper Textual
