Before sending a rover to Mars however, NASA tested its LVS in one of the most martian-like place on Earth: California’s Death Valley.
To test the system, they fitted it to a helicopter operated by the aerial cinematography company XM2 PURSUIT. One of their pilots, John Tamburro, was an eager participant: He had already worked with NASA to test technology for Curiosity’s landing system.
While most utility helicopters operate mainly below 10,000 feet (3050 meters) in their typical activities, NASA wanted to fly above 17,000 feet (5,200 m) to accurately simulate a Mars EDL scenario. To fly the helicopter to those heights, Tamburro underwent high-altitude training, including oxygen deprivation. Using the helicopter’s autopilot, Tamburro was able to help NASA test the equipment’s performance while flying specific paths at different speeds.
“[Testing] was very successful, [LVS] did what they expected it to do,” Tamburro says to Astronomy. “I’ve worked on a lot of movies and done big stunts, but when you work on a program like this and you see it land, its overwhelming.”
NASA expects their new system to be used in future martian missions, both robotic and human-led.
The next journey begins
Perseverance met one final challenge just in time for the final stages of assembly. The COVID-19 pandemic forced 90 percent of the JPL team to remain at home, leaving only mission-critical personnel to prep the rover itself. The mission’s launch window was between July 17 and August 15. If they missed it, they would have to wait to launch in 2022 instead.