An hour after NASA’s Perseverance rover nailed an epic landing on Mars, the company’s appearing chief Steve Jurczyk bought a shock cellphone name from the president of america.
“His first phrases have been ‘Congratulations, man,’ and I knew it was him,” Jurczyk stated of the decision from President Joe Biden as we speak (Feb. 18). “He talked about how proud he was of what we had completed.”
Jurczyk was at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California — house to Perseverance’s mission operations heart — when he bought the decision from Biden. The rover’s profitable touchdown within the huge Jezero Crater was introduced at three:55 p.m. EST (2055 GMT) after a harrowing skycrane landing.
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Congratulations to NASA and everybody whose onerous work made Perseverance’s historic touchdown attainable. Right this moment proved as soon as once more that with the ability of science and American ingenuity, nothing is past the realm of chance. pic.twitter.com/NzSxW6nw4kFebruary 18, 2021
Biden, Jurczyk stated, requested the appearing NASA chief to “ship his regards to Percy.” He hopes to congratulate your entire mission crew in individual quickly, presumably subsequent week, Jurczyk added. However Biden did not wait lengthy to let the world know the way he felt.
“Congratulations to NASA and everybody whose onerous work made Perseverance’s historic touchdown attainable,” Biden wrote in a Twitter statement about two hours after touchdown, which included a photograph exhibiting Biden watching the touchdown on tv on the White Home. “Right this moment proved as soon as once more that with the ability of science and American ingenuity, nothing is past the realm of chance.”
Vice President Kamala Harris additionally despatched her congratulations to NASA and the Perseverance rover crew.
“Congrats to @NASA and all of their companions on their profitable mission,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “Right this moment’s historic touchdown embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance — constructing on previous accomplishments and paving the way in which for future missions.”
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Congrats to @NASA and all of their companions on their profitable mission. Right this moment’s historic touchdown embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance—constructing on previous accomplishments and paving the way in which for future missions.February 18, 2021
Former President Barack Obama echoed Biden’s sentiments in his personal assertion. NASA kicked off the Perseverance rover mission, then recognized solely as Mars 2020, in 2012 throughout Obama’s first presidential time period.
“Congrats to @NASAJPL on touchdown @MarsPersevere as we speak!” Obama wrote on Twitter. “Wanting ahead to seeing what this mission uncovers — and proud our administration invested on this effort eight years in the past to assist proceed America’s wealthy custom of exploration and discovery.”
By all accounts, Perseverance is doing effectively on Mars.
The rover touched down on a flat spot inside Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) area on the western fringe of an enormous affect basin known as Isidis Planitia a bit north of Mars’ equator. Whereas Perseverance has beamed its first Mars pictures to Earth, the black-and-white navigation digicam photos will quickly be eclipsed by extra highly effective (and shade) cameras within the days forward.
Congrats to @NASAJPL on touchdown @MarsPersevere as we speak! Wanting ahead to seeing what this mission uncovers—and proud our administration invested on this effort eight years in the past to assist proceed America’s wealthy custom of exploration and discovery.February 18, 2021
Over the subsequent few days, the nuclear-powered rover is predicted to boost its digicam mast, unfold its robotic arm and start a shakedown interval to make sure all of its methods are working as deliberate.
The 1-ton rover is designed to spend years exploring Jezero Crater — which was an enormous lake billions of years in the past — to seek for indicators of historical life and, in a primary, acquire samples of Mars that will likely be returned to Earth on a later mission. The rover can also be carrying Ingenuity, the first helicopter ever sent to another world, and an experiment known as MOXIE that may try and make oxygen from the Martian environment.
Jurczyk stated Perseverance’s landing marked NASA’s ninth profitable touchdown on the Crimson Planet, an unprecedented quantity for any nation. The landing also occurred during a global pandemic that prevented a lot of the Perseverance mission crew from working collectively in individual during the last yr.
“I couldn’t be extra pleased with the crew and what they’ve executed, what they’ve completed, below difficult circumstances,” Jurczyk stated.
E-mail Tariq Malik at tmalik@area.com or observe him @tariqjmalik. Comply with us @Spacedotcom, Fb and Instagram.
