Perseverance now has radar lock on the ground.
We have confirmation that the lander vision system has produced a valid solution.
Source: Watch NASA’s Perseverance Rover Land on Mars!
I’ve experienced some tense and overwhelming moments as a systems engineer going through a deploy checklist, and I cried with joy and relief when I heard these words from Dr. Swati Mohan, lead engineer for guidance, navigation and controls operations. What a moment for the team.
Watch the gripping two minutes before touchdown starting at this timestamp (1:38:26):
See also The Checklist Manifesto, because checklists rock. Don’t deploy without one.
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