It has been more than 13 months since the rover “Perseverance” landed on Mars (February 18, 2021) and as it turned out, its cameras detected some of the access systems that ensured the safe landing of the orbiter on the surface.
Parachute and protective shield “Perseverance” camera MastCam-Z was spotted and photographed on April 6, 2022, south of the current location of the rover.
Rover usually had to make a short tour shortly after landing and take in the remnants of the access system, but he did not bother to do so, as he had to navigate the dangerous terrain of Jezero Crater and conduct research in a region called ‘South Séítah’.
This place is close to the parachute fall zone and as it turned out, the rover reached there as well. The system got rid of the parachute to allow the Skycrane’s rover to land on the surface with the wheels outstretched.
Below is a photo taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the rover landed in orbit around Mars, showing the rover itself, a parachute, a protective shield and other remnants of the access system. Each of them is about 200 meters away from each other.
Perseverance is currently moving to the next target area of the mission’s second science campaign, the Zone, which was once the delta of the Great River. It is true that it rides faster than the previous rovers, but “Perseverance” covers about a tenth of a mile per hour. Already broke the records of distance traveled by previous rovers, when he passed 319.8 meters in just one day.
Rover Curiosity did not walk more than 200 meters a day, while Opportunity, which landed on the relatively flat surface of Mars in 2004, ran 228 meters a day using solar energy a year after landing.
See also: An unusual earthquake on Mars indicates that the red planet is volcanically active
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