An hour after NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully accomplished an epic landing on mars accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars. The agency’s acting chief Steve Jurczyk got a surprise phone call from the president of the United States.
Jurczyk was at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California when he got the call from Biden. The rover’s successful landing at the Jezero Crater was announced at 3:55 p.m. EST (2055 GMT)
Joining President, Vice President Kamala Harris also sent her congratulations to NASA and the Perseverance rover team.
Congrats to @NASAJPL on landing @MarsPersevere today! Looking forward to seeing what this mission uncovers—and proud our administration invested in this effort eight years ago to help continue America’s rich tradition of exploration and discovery.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 18, 2021
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 Archived (@VP46Archive) February 18, 2021
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. pic.twitter.com/NzSxW6nw4k
— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) February 18, 2021
Congratulations to @NASA on the successful landing of the SUV-Sized Perseverance Rover on planet Mars.
Among other things, it carries a drone helicopter — an engineering test of flight, maneuvering, & navigation in the rarified Martian atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/5B4ZlYFHyK
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) February 19, 2021
Welcome to Mars, @NASAPersevere! Congratulations @NASA and @NASAJPL – another successful mission to the Red Planet ❤️👽 https://t.co/EtVb2f2C5I
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 18, 2021
“Touchdown confirmed!” Watch the NASA control room react as the Perseverance rover lands on the surface of Mars to begin its ambitious mission of finding out whether there was ever life on the red planet. https://t.co/vCOrFilHbL pic.twitter.com/RaWNNbt5zR
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 19, 2021
“Successful tests of this Marscopter could point the way toward new methods for searching the surface of Mars and other worlds from their skies.”
MARSCOPTER 🚁 https://t.co/SJpAkVQ2Pi
— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) February 19, 2021
Here is the video uploaded by Nasa on its Touchdown Confirmation:
Touchdown confirmed. The #CountdownToMars is complete, but the mission is just beginning. pic.twitter.com/UvOyXQhhN9
— NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021
