Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2021 February 15

                  Landing on Mars: Seven Minutes of Terror
                           Video Credit: NASA, JPL

   Explanation: Starting Thursday, there may be an amazing new robotic
   explorer on Mars. Or there may be a new pile of junk. It all likely
   depends on things going correctly in the minutes after the Mars 2020
   mission arrives at its new home planet and attempts to deploy the
   Perseverance rover. Arguably the most sophisticated landing yet
   attempted on the red planet, consecutive precision events will involve
   a heat shield, a parachute, several rocket maneuvers, and the automatic
   operation of an unusual device called a Sky Crane. Thursday's Seven
   Minutes of Terror echo the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars in
   2012, as depicted in the featured video. If successful, the car-sized
   Perseverance rover will rest on the surface of Mars, soon to begin
   exploring Jezero Crater to better determine the habitability of this
   seemingly barren world to life -- past, present, and future. Although
   multiple media outlets may cover this event, one way to watch these
   landing events unfold is on the NASA channel live on the web.

                      News: NASA Perseverance Coverage
                   Tomorrow's picture: seven more minutes
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.
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