NASA’s perseverance will arrive on Mars next week to collect rocks, an important step in determining if life exists. Lockheed Martin’s Dave Scholz, chief engineer of the mission’s aeroshell, explains the protective technology. (February 11)
Video transcription
DAVE SCHOLZ: This is the 10th aeroshell we built for a Mars mission for NASA. We have been involved in every successful landing on Mars so far. The aeroshell is critical because the lander will not be able to survive the environment alone.
The front half is the heat shield. It’s the part of the aeroshell that really takes advantage of the atmosphere, the heat and the pressure. And then the top is the other half. The rear shell contains a parachute and the balance masses that create this offset center of gravity so that it can – so that they can steer it.
What we call our success-success event is the ejection of the heat shield. So this is the point where we know we did our job and that we protected the spacecraft when it entered the atmosphere, and it’s now free to move on.
You are basically looking at history. This is not the first time we have landed on Mars, but it is a very big event in the world of science. I feel like we’re just dipping our toes in the water until we explore our solar system, and it’s a really good feeling to be a part of it.