Mars rover landing - as it happened: Nasa Perseverance rover sends back first pictures from successful landing

Watch live as Nasa’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars

Nasa’s Perseverance rover has survived “seven minutes of terror” that saw it hurtle down towards the surface of Mars and land gracefully on the ground.

Now that it has landed, the rover – and a helicopter named Ingenuity that will undertake the first ever flight on another planet – will get to work exploring Mars in search of clues about its ancient past. That will include attempting to understand whether the planet was ever habitable, and scouring for clues of past life on its surface.

The arrival on Mars brought an end to a journey of months and 300 million miles. It finished off a perilous entry, descent and landing process that saw it hurtle through the atmosphere, slow down to a safe speed, and then use a highly-advanced “Terrain Relative Navigation” system that will allow it to adjust where it lands to ensure it can safely drop down onto the surface.

Read more:Five things Nasa’s Mars rover is taking to the Red Planet today

[18 February 2021 20:53 · Andrew Griffin]

Nasa

The spacecraft is flying towards the ground, as can be seen in this simulation from Nasa.

(Nasa)

[18 February 2021 20:54 · Andrew Griffin]

Parachute successfully deploys

Perseverance has successfully deployed its parachute. Its now slowing down rapidly so that it can fall to the ground safely.

It has also slowed down to subsonic speeds and dropped its heat shield. Its cameras will now be able to see the surface.

[18 February 2021 20:55 · Andrew Griffin]

Perseverance gets radar lock on the ground

The spacecraft can now see the ground through radar, which it will use to ensure that it lands safely.

[18 February 2021 20:56 · Andrew Griffin]

Perseverance loses contact with Earth

Those tones have gone. (As expected; nothing to worry about.)

[18 February 2021 20:57 · Andrew Griffin]

TOUCHDOWN

Perseverance has touched down safely on Mars!

[18 February 2021 20:57 · Andrew Griffin]

Mission control erupts in joy

Emotions are high at mission control, with the team “besides themselves” as the spacecraft makes its safe touchdown.

[18 February 2021 20:59 · Andrew Griffin]

‘Perseverance is alive on the surface of Mars'

It’s there!

[18 February 2021 21:00 · Andrew Griffin]

Rover sends back first image

It’s not much, but here’s the picture that the rover has sent back.

(Nasa)

This comes from the engineering or hazard camera, which is used to ensure the rover is able to move around safely. That’s part of the reason why it’s not the most detailed picture – but it’s still fairly thrilling.

[18 February 2021 21:02 · Andrew Griffin]

Second image arrives

And another picture! Here it is.

(Again, it’s not the best picture. But it’s not only not the best camera, but also the fact that it was taken just moments after arrival, when the rover was still sitting in the dust.)

(Nasa)

[18 February 2021 21:16 · Andrew Griffin]

Nasa successfully arrives at Mars

Here’s the full story on the rover’s successful descent.