NASA has released the the first audio-video unveiling "How to Land on Mars” presenting first-of-its-kind footage of the Perseverance rover touching down on the Red Planet on February 18. The video, along with other newly released footage, gives a better sense of the sights and sounds on the red planet. ALSO WATCH | Large Debris Falls Off From Sky In America's Denver City As Plane Suffers Mid-Air Engine Failure
In a release issued yesterday, NASA said that the new video from NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover chronicles major milestones during the final minutes of its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 as the spacecraft plummeted, parachuted, and rocketed toward the surface of Mars. A microphone on the rover also has provided the first audio recording of sounds from Mars.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Your front-row seat to my Mars landing is here. Watch how we did it.<a >#CountdownToMars</a> <a >pic.twitter.com/Avv13dSVmQ</a></p>— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a >February 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The agency elaborated that the camera system covers the entirety of the descent process, showing some of the rover’s intense ride to Mars’ Jezero Crater. The footage from high-definition cameras aboard the spacecraft starts 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface, showing the supersonic deployment of the most massive parachute ever sent to another world, and ends with the rover’s touchdown in the crater.
Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk in an official statement said "For those who wonder how you land on Mars – or why it is so difficult – or how cool it would be to do so – you need look no further."
As described by the agency, the real footage in the video was captured by several cameras that are part of the rover's entry, descent, and landing suite.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that you’ve seen Mars, hear it. Grab some headphones and listen to the first sounds captured by one of my microphones. 🎧<a >https://t.co/JswvAWC2IP</a><a >#CountdownToMars</a></p>— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a >February 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
NASA in its release stated that the views include a camera looking down from the spacecraft's descent stage, a camera on the rover looking up at the descent stage, a camera on the top of the aeroshell looking up at that parachute, and a camera on the bottom of the rover looking down at the Martian surface.
The audio embedded in the video comes from the mission control call-outs during entry, descent, and landing.