Life on Mars: Spain's on a mission, and it takes Perseverance
Monday, March 1, 2021 @ 9:08 AM
IT'S NEARLY 45 years since the first man-made artefact landed successfully on Mars – and actually worked – and now, they've done it again with the Perseverance.
This is what the Perseverance's landing was supposed to look like (photo: NASA)
Back in July 1976 when the Viking 1 touched down on on the red planet, scientists, technicians and a long list of support staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Texas had a hard time containing their euphoria, and the feeling was very similar at the same agency following its landing 10 days ago on the same soil.
“This is beyond science fiction,” says Dr Jordi Pla-García of Spain's National Research Council (CSIC).
Member of the Perseverance team and a specialist in planetary sciences at the National Astrobiology Centre (INTA-CSIC), Jordi's job in the run-up to February 18 was that of studying Mars' atmosphere in a bid to cut the movement risk at the moment the rover landed.
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