29 votes

Perseverance rover’s descent and touchdown on Mars [Real time video of the landing]

8 comments

  1. [3]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. [2]
      petrichor
      Link Parent
      Woah, it's way bigger than I expected. For some reason I'd gotten in my head that Mars rovers were around the size of a bike or large dog.

      the equivalent of a small car

      Woah, it's way bigger than I expected. For some reason I'd gotten in my head that Mars rovers were around the size of a bike or large dog.

      4 votes
      1. AugustusFerdinand
        Link Parent
        From what I've read, this is a pretty common sentiment and one NASA (and fans) tries to correct often. I also feel like this launch has many more photos of Perseverance with people in the image...

        From what I've read, this is a pretty common sentiment and one NASA (and fans) tries to correct often. I also feel like this launch has many more photos of Perseverance with people in the image for scale than prior launches. The disconnect from the size is likely just a holdover from when the rovers were small (clockwise from bottom: Sojourner, Spirit/Opportunity, Curiosity/Perseverance).

        5 votes
  2. skybrian
    (edited )
    Link
    Is the raw footage online somewhere? Edit: it looks like the individual frames from the videos (along with other images) are here. I guess I'm looking for something slightly less raw than that.

    Is the raw footage online somewhere?

    Edit: it looks like the individual frames from the videos (along with other images) are here.

    I guess I'm looking for something slightly less raw than that.

    4 votes
  3. [3]
    lonjil
    Link
    This is amazing. I believe the first actual real time video recording from beyond the moon? This probably took most of their bandwidth since landing :)

    This is amazing. I believe the first actual real time video recording from beyond the moon?

    This probably took most of their bandwidth since landing :)

    3 votes
    1. AugustusFerdinand
      Link Parent
      I watched the landing live, I remember holding my breath during the last few seconds awaiting touchdown confirmation and feeling great relief and excitement just as they did when the room erupted...

      I watched the landing live, I remember holding my breath during the last few seconds awaiting touchdown confirmation and feeling great relief and excitement just as they did when the room erupted in celebration. The same frisson occurred watching this video to see it happen live. Just extraordinary.

      I do wonder how long it took to get all that video back...

      4 votes
    2. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. hamstergeddon
        Link Parent
        How do they do that? I know it's Rover -> martian satellite (Mars Recon Orbiter?), but what about after that? Is there enough speed that they can transmit that kind of data all to a single dish on...

        How do they do that? I know it's Rover -> martian satellite (Mars Recon Orbiter?), but what about after that? Is there enough speed that they can transmit that kind of data all to a single dish on earth, or do they have divvy it up to various dishes as the planet rotates? Or maybe they transmit to a satellite network that compiles and sends to a single point on earth?

        I've got so many questions and so little understanding of how this works!

        3 votes
  4. eve
    Link
    I'm so giddy! Watching this is just incredible. It's exciting and beautiful! I'm just awed about all of it, and the quality is great. It'll be super awesome to see more on Mars in even greater...

    I'm so giddy! Watching this is just incredible. It's exciting and beautiful! I'm just awed about all of it, and the quality is great. It'll be super awesome to see more on Mars in even greater detail (and to hear it!).

    3 votes
  5. bhrgunatha
    Link
    I think the word awesome has lost a lot of its power and original meaning but this is definitely in the spirit of the meaning of inducing awe. The live stream of the press event is also well worth...

    I think the word awesome has lost a lot of its power and original meaning but this is definitely in the spirit of the meaning of inducing awe.

    The live stream of the press event is also well worth watching as they analyse some of the things us amateurs will have missed - starting at around the 16 minutes mark.

    When I saw the pattern on the parachute as I was watching I thought there must be some meaning behind the pattern they chose. The presenter also heavily hints at a hidden message.

    Sure enough those parachute patterns are encoded

    Here's the message overlayed on a screenshot.

    2 votes