Loading

Perseverance Rover's Cruise Stage Separation (Illustration)

2020

NASA

NASA
Washington, DC, United States

This illustration shows NASA’s Perseverance rover casting off its spacecraft’s cruise stage, minutes before entering the Martian atmosphere. Hundreds of critical events in the rover’s Entry, Descent, and Landing sequence must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to touch down on Mars safely on Feb. 18, 2021.

The cruise stage contains fuel tanks, solar panels, and other hardware needed during the trip to Mars. About 10 minutes before atmospheric entry, it separates from the aeroshell, which encloses the rover and descent stage. The aeroshell makes the trip to the surface on its own.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.

Show lessRead more
  • Title: Perseverance Rover's Cruise Stage Separation (Illustration)
  • Date Created: 2020
  • Rights: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites