19 February 2021
Aerospace
On February 18, 2021 at 9:55 p.m. (Paris time), after seven months of cruising and 490 million kilometers covered, NASA's astromobile Perseverance and the Ingenuity helicopter UAV landed safely on the Red Planet's Jezero crater. Aboard the motorized rover: the SuperCam scientific instrument and Winlight's optical components!
Launched on July 30 from Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA), Mars 2020 is a space mission to observe the Red Planet, initiated by the U.S. space agency NASA.
The Perseverance astromobile carries 7 scientific instruments, among which SuperCam, designed by French, American and Spanish researchers and engineers. Composed of 3 spectrometers, a camera and a microphone, SuperCam will study the chemistry and mineralogy of Martian rocks and soils, as well as the composition of the atmosphere, in order to detect traces of active, past or dormant microbial life.
This is the second time that Winlight's expertise has been directly applied to the study of the planet Mars, through the design and supply of mirrors integrated into high-performance scientific instruments.
- More information about the mission HERE.
- Relive the « 7 minutes terror experience » before landing (starting at 02H16 - in French).
Or connect to NASA’s website for comments in English. - Watch the interview of Frank Fervel, Deputy Director of Winlight, during the special program " #Cap sur Mars " produced by the CNES (from 01H28). The interview is in French.
March 2020: landing of the Perseverance rover & Winlight's optical components!
On February 18, 2021 at 9:55 p.m., NASA's astromobile Perseverance and the Ingenuity helicopter UAV landed safely on the planet Mars.
Copyright: NASA/JPL-Caltech