This is a sentiment that has been echoing since the world saw NASA land the Perseverance Rover on Mars on Thursday.
“Touchdown confirmed. Perseverance is safe on the surface of Mars, ready to start looking for the signs of past life.”
Pure joy went beyond mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the rover’s team jumped out of their seats and burst into cheers and applause.
It is a moment to be preserved and played on infinite lust – those seconds where anxiety disappears in the face of hope and possibility that come together.
At that beautiful moment, it did not matter that so many of us had been staring at the quarantine places for almost a year. As human beings we were together, united in joy. We jumped with them, laughed and cried, full of bubbly.
They did it. We did it. In a year of seemingly endless bad news – and even more so as the pandemic continues and winter storms affect a large part of the country – something wonderful has been achieved.
“It was a dream come true,” deputy project scientist Ken Williford told Wolf Blitzer of CNN on Thursday night.
President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris all shared their joys and congratulations on social media about the success of the landing.
Even Ringo Starr feels compelled to share in the joy and tweet his congratulations to NASA, as well as the remark: “David Bowie will please peace and love.”
Almost immediately after the landing is confirmed, Perseverance sends a message: Images of her landing site, confirming the safe end of her long journey.
A mission of firsts
Mohan’s words, the words we all had to hear, come not just after we endured the ‘7 minutes of horror’, while perseverance pervaded the Martian atmosphere – but almost ten years of planning, hard work and opportunity to succeed.
The thousands of people who worked to bring perseverance to life lived up to the name of the mission when they had to prepare the rover for a launch in July 2020 during a pandemic. Then a tormenting wait awaits her to land safely on the Mars surface.
Perseverance had to land on the most dangerous terrain on Mars ever attempted. A graph shows her landing site, with red cliff – which would mean a certain “death” if she landed on the rocks or cliffs. But in the impeccable way, due to the tireless work of many, she ends up in a safe blue spot.
So much has been said about this. Perseverance is not just another rover – there is no such thing. It takes years of work, planning, coordination and innovation to design and build an SUV-sized robot explorer that will land autonomously and drive on another planet.
She has technological advances that could pave the way for a human mission to Mars, such as the MOXIE instrument that will convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.
And her cameras and microphones offer unprecedented views, as well as the sounds of Mars for the first time. Did we mention that there is also Ingenuity, the first helicopter that will fly on another planet?
As the JPL motto goes, “Dare Mighty Things.”
It borrows from a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: ‘It is much better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, though contracted by failure, than to rank among the poor spirits who do not enjoy much. or suffer much, because they are in the gray twilight who do not know the victory or the defeat. ‘
Why care about a robot?
The curiosity and perseverance on Mars is not ‘Wall-E’ – we know that. Yet the idea of robot explorers venturing across the surface of another planet on behalf of mankind is still overwhelmingly impressive – even though NASA has landed on Mars since the 1997 Sojourner experiment.
And we can not help but project personalities on these robbers – especially if they have charming social media accounts run by smart NASA people.
The Curiosity Rover account responded, “Collide in front of boots. So proud of you, @NASAPersevere, and the work you will do to pave the way for future astronauts and to search Mars for signs of ancient life.”
Why should we care about a robot at the end of the day?
To begin with, they are essentially part of us, an extension of the earth that now sits on Mars. Nearly 11 million people submitted their names to make a ride with Perseverance on silicone chips.
“There’s something special about the first few days, because we just landed a representative of planet Earth at a place on Mars where no one has ever been,” Mike Watkins, director of JPL, said after Thursday’s landing.
For me, it has become a very personal thing. It was an inspiring journey after this journey from concept to an amazing reality.
Along the way, I met so many people who dedicated years of their lives. It is impossible not to feel trapped in their motivations, hopes and passion to explore.
Against so many challenges, they have created a technological marvel with an appropriate name: perseverance. Her search for evidence of ancient life on Mars may help answer the fundamental question at the core of humanity: Does life ever exist on another planet?
Seeing perseverance during a visit to JPL in the summer of 2019 was a powerful moment. I was struck by the fact that this machine, just one room away from me, would end up on another planet.
During her journey, there were so many moments of wonder. It’s impossible not to feel an inexplicable tire with this 6-wheel robot. It will only deepen as perseverance explores Mars.
The band tracks left by robbers on the surface of Mars may one day have human footsteps next to them. Robots go there first so we can follow next. Helicopters like Ingenuity can even act as scouts for human and robot scouts.
Mars is a lasting point of fascination for us as humans for several reasons, said acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk.
“Mars is the most terrestrial planet in our solar system,” he said. It is also more accessible than other planets, and since Mars was probably habitable billions of years ago, it’s definitely worth exploring the signs of life.
Perseverance is only the first of a multiple effort made possible by international cooperation and future missions that will bring back monsters collected by Perseverance on Mars to Earth.
Students who watched the historic landing may one day be the scientists who analyze the coveted monsters or work on future missions to Mars.
“The future of Mars exploration is just as broad and exciting,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, co-administrator of NASA’s Directorate of Science Mission.
“It also involves many other nations and leaders. Many of them are still in school, or even in kindergarten or younger, and the leaders we need if we are to achieve these amazing goals.”
Hold on to hope from the day of landing, and let’s follow Perseverance’s journey to explore Mars.