Examine the Mars Rover in 3D

Get to know Perseverance, an interplanetary explorer

By Google Arts & Culture

Perseverance Rover's Entry, Descent and Landing Profile (2021)NASA

As humanity reaches for the stars and explores new planets it is machinery and engineering marvels like the Mars Perseverance Rover that make it possible. Let's take a closer look at this incredible machine in 3D. 

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Mars Perseverance Rover, 3D Model (2020)NASA

Launched on 30 July 2020 and landing on 18 Feb 2021 at the Jezero Crater on Mars, the main role of the Perserverence Rover is to seek signs of life through collecting samples of rock and regolith for potential return to Earth.

The Perseverance Rover is 3 metres long and 2.7 metres wide, which is about the size of a small car.

The Mastcam-Z is an advanced camera system with panoramic and stereoscopic imaging capability. It has the ability to zoom in and instruments to help determine the mineralogy of the surface.

The Perseverance Rover has six wheels, each powered by its own individual motor. This provides the Rover with the right combination of strength and mobility. The wheels are made of aluminum, with some additional titanium components.

Mars 2020 With Sample Tubes (Artist's Concept), 2020, From the collection of: NASA
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Perseverance Touching Down on Mars (Illustration), 2020, From the collection of: NASA
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In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, engineers observed the first driving test for NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on Dec. 17, 2019, 2019, From the collection of: NASA
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This unique feat of engineering is thought to have cost about $2.7 billion to create.

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Mars Perseverance Rover, 3D Model (2020)NASA

Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is a spectrometer using an ultraviolet laser to map minerals and organic compounds on the surface.

The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, or MOXIE, is a technology demonstration aimed at producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere.

A new autonomous navigation system allows the Rover to drive faster, even across the challenging terrain on the surface.

The onboard MEDA weather station monitors the conditions on the surface and logs any minute changes.

Hubble Takes Mars Portrait Near Close Approach (2017-12-08)NASA

Want to discover more about the journey to Mars?

You can find out more details about the quest for the Red Planet here.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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