NASA has shared a time-lapse video that shows the Perseverance rover speeding across the Martian surface. The top speed of the rover on flat, hard ground is 152 meters per hour. The space agency sped up the time-lapse about 200 times to show its movements.
The video provides details on how the rover tackles the terrain on Mars, its onboard sensors and software expertly steering the autonomous vehicle around rocky patches on Mars’ surface. NASA posted the video to mark the resumption of operations on the Red Planet after the space agency cut contact with the rover and other Mars-based machines recently.
AutoNav makes the rover more efficient
The video shows the rover using its auto-navigation technology called AutoNav to cover a distance of 167 meters. “AutoNav allows the rover to autonomously re-plan its route around rocks or other obstacles on its way to a pre-established destination,” NASA explained on its website.
The first few meters of the rover’s driving expedition are based on commands that the space agency sends. This enables the rover to build a 3D map of the terrain under and around it, which then lets its AutoNav feature evaluate the safety of available routes as it moves towards its destination.
“Once AutoNav takes over, the rover autonomously chooses a path to reach the intended destination, continually imaging around itself to maintain a 98-foot-by-98-foot (30-meter-by-30-meter) map centered on the rover,” NASA said.
Perseverance taking selfies on Mars
Previously, NASA shared two of the Perseverance’s selfies, one showing the rover “looking” at the rock it drilled to collect the samples, and the second selfie showing the rover “looking at the camera.” The difference is in the position of the instruments mounted at the top of their mast.
The rock sampled by the rover is named “Rochette.” The selfie shows the drill holes as two dark circles in the rock. The samples are now safely placed and NASA hopes to send a future mission to retrieve them. The rover will continue to collect more samples as takes forward its exploration.
