NASA erupts in cheers as Perseverance Rover Lands On Mars

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which runs civilian space programmes independently in the US, has cheered as its Perseverance Rover landed on the red planet safely.

Perseverance Rover is a robot that has completed a journey of 203 days and 300 million miles to touch base on Mars.

Soon after its landing, NASA tweeted, “Touchdown confirmed. The #CountdownToMars is complete, but the mission is just beginning.”

It further confirmed that After 203 days and 300 million miles, “our @NASAPersevere landed on Mars at 3:55 p.m. EST on Feb. 18. After spending some time checking out its systems, it'll be rolling across the Red Planet, looking for signs of ancient Martian life.”

Matt Wallace from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said, “The first video product... we're going to try to bring that to a press conference on Monday. And I think that's really going to be something to see."

Both US President and Vice President congratulated NASA for its successful mission.

President Joe Biden tweeted, “Congratulations to NASA and everyone whose hard work made Perseverance’s historic landing possible. Today proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.”

“Congrats to @NASA and all of their partners on their successful mission. Today's historic landing embodies our nation’s spirit of perseverance—building on past accomplishments and paving the way for future missions,” Vice President Kamala Harris said.

Describing the #CountdownToMars landing, Al Chen from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, “It's a feeling of being very fortunate at the end... that I get to work at a place with people who are both great engineers and great people, and we still get to dare mighty things together."