We now have an impressively clear and unprecedented video of NASA’s Perseverance rover’s intense entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on Mars, just a few days after it landed on the red planet.
The video released during a live NASA press conference on Monday is an incredible, never-before-seen look at a spacecraft landing, including the supersonic parachute opening, the release of the heat shield, a stunning view of the Mars surface as the rover selected its landing site, and a look at the rocket-powered lander lowering the rover on wires. To make it even more exciting, the video includes the commentary and cheering from inside mission control during EDL.
“We all binge-watched them over the weekend,” said Michael Watkins, the director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, about the videos captured by the rover.
Perseverance was equipped with four cameras specifically included for its EDL sequence and a microphone to pick up sound. Unfortunately, the team was unable to retrieve usable audio from the descent, but they did catch sound of a Martian breeze after the lander flew off.