An hour after NASA’s Perseverance rover nailed an epic landing on Mars, the company’s appearing chief Steve Jurczyk obtained a shock telephone name from the president of the United States.
“His first words were ‘Congratulations, man,’ and I knew it was him,” Jurczyk mentioned of the decision from President Joe Biden right this moment (Feb. 18). “He talked about how proud he was of what we had accomplished.”
Jurczyk was at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California — dwelling to Perseverance’s mission operations heart — when he obtained the decision from Biden. The rover’s successful landing within the huge Jezero Crater was introduced at 3:55 p.m. EST (2055 GMT) after a harrowing skycrane landing.
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Congratulations to NASA and everybody whose arduous work made Perseverance’s historic landing doable. Today proved as soon as once more that with the ability of science and American ingenuity, nothing is past the realm of risk. pic.twitter.com/NzSxW6nw4kFebruary 18, 2021
Biden, Jurczyk mentioned, requested the appearing NASA chief to “send his regards to Percy.” He hopes to congratulate the complete mission group in individual quickly, probably subsequent week, Jurczyk added. But Biden did not wait lengthy to let the world understand how he felt.
“Congratulations to NASA and everyone whose hard work made Perseverance’s historic landing possible,” Biden wrote in a Twitter statement about two hours after landing, which included a photograph displaying Biden watching the landing on tv on the White House. “Today proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.”
Vice President Kamala Harris additionally despatched her congratulations to NASA and the Perseverance rover group.
“Congrats to @NASA and all of their partners on their successful mission,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “Today’s historic landing embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance — building on past accomplishments and paving the way for future missions.”
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Congrats to @NASA and all of their companions on their successful mission. Today’s historic landing embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance—constructing on previous accomplishments and paving the best way for future missions.February 18, 2021
Former President Barack Obama echoed Biden’s sentiments in his personal assertion. NASA kicked off the Perseverance rover mission, then identified solely as Mars 2020, in 2012 throughout Obama’s first presidential time period.
“Congrats to @NASAJPL on landing @MarsPersevere today!” Obama wrote on Twitter. “Looking forward to seeing what this mission uncovers — and proud our administration invested in this effort eight years ago to help continue America’s rich tradition of exploration and discovery.”
By all accounts, Perseverance is doing nicely on Mars.
The rover touched down on a flat spot inside Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) area on the western edge of an unlimited influence basin referred to as Isidis Planitia a bit north of Mars’ equator. While Perseverance has beamed its first Mars images to Earth, the black-and-white navigation digicam photographs will quickly be eclipsed by extra highly effective (and coloration) cameras within the days forward.
Congrats to @NASAJPL on landing @MarsPersevere right this moment! Looking ahead to seeing what this mission uncovers—and proud our administration invested on this effort eight years in the past to assist proceed America’s wealthy custom of exploration and discovery.February 18, 2021
Over the following few days, the nuclear-powered rover is anticipated to lift its digicam mast, unfold its robotic arm and start a shakedown interval to make sure all of its methods are working as deliberate.
The 1-ton rover is designed to spend years exploring Jezero Crater — which was an unlimited lake billions of years in the past — to seek for indicators of historic life and, in a primary, gather samples of Mars that will likely be returned to Earth on a later mission. The rover can be carrying Ingenuity, the primary helicopter ever despatched to a different world, and an experiment referred to as MOXIE that can try and make oxygen from the Martian environment.
Jurczyk mentioned Perseverance’s landing marked NASA’s ninth successful landing on the Red Planet, an unprecedented quantity for any nation. The landing additionally occurred throughout a world pandemic that prevented a lot of the Perseverance mission group from working collectively in individual during the last 12 months.
“I could not be more proud of the team and what they’ve done, what they’ve accomplished, under challenging circumstances,” Jurczyk mentioned.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@area.com or observe him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.