Today, we celebrate the one year anniversary of the Perseverance landing on Mars! On February 18th, 2021, Wenzel Associates assisted the Mars Terminal Descent Sensor team in landing Perseverance safely on Mars. Wenzel supplied a 11.25 GHz frequency synthesizer that was mounted on the landing craft and is part of the radar based altimeter. The power system, antennas and Wenzel synthesizer, in conjunction with many other teams, allowed the landing craft to hover above the Mars surface, as Perseverance was gently guided to the surface.
Since that date, Perseverance has made some incredible discoveries through its exploration of an ancient lakebed on Mars’ surface. The rover has discovered evidence of both water and magma’s presence on the planet at one time, as well as organic compounds (possibly indicating historical evidence of life on Mars).
Perseverance is also the first Mars rover with ground penetrating radar and has produced the first radargram of Mars beneath the surface layer.
We here at Wenzel are incredibly proud to have been a part of landing this rover on Mars, and we look forward to seeing future discoveries made by Perseverance.
Sources:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2021, April 19). Mars Perseverance Rover. NASA. https://www.Nasa.gov/perseverance
Anderson, P. S. (2022, January 3). 10 Months of Perseverance: New Mars discoveries. EarthSky. https://earthsky.org/space/10-months-of-perseverance-jezero-crater-mars/
American Geophysical Union. (2021, December 14). P25I – The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Early Mission in Jezero Crater, Mars IV Poster. AGU. https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Session/126141
Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. (2016, August 2). Artist Concept for RIMFAX. NASA Science. https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/artist-concept-for-rimfax-7966/
Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. (2021, January 5). Perseverance Rover’s Entry, Descent and Landing Profile. NASA Science. https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25489/perseverance-rovers-entry-descent-and-landing-profile/
