NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. The roundabout, back and forth drive lasted just 33 minutes and went so well that more driving was on tap Friday and Saturday for the six-wheeled rover. In its first drive, Perseverance went forward 13 feet, took 150-degree left turn, then backed up 8 feet. Flight controllers are still checking all of Perseverance’s systems. So far, everything is looking good. The rover’s 7-foot robot arm, for instance, flexed its muscles for the first time Tuesday. Before the car-size rover can head for an ancient river delta to collect rocks for eventual return to Earth, it must drop its so-called protective “belly pan” and release an experimental helicopter named Ingenuity. As it turns out, Perseverance landed right on the edge of a potential helicopter landing strip – a nice, flat spot. So the plan is to drive out of this landing strip, ditch the pan, then return for Ingenuity’s highly anticipated test flight. All this should be accomplished by late spring.
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