Stacking spacecraft components on top of each other is one of the final assembly steps before a mission launches to the Red Planet.
The launch period for the mission opens on 17 July – just 70 days from now.
Called "vehicle stacking", the process began on 23 April with the integration of the rover and its rocket-powered descent stage.
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One of the first steps in the day-long operation was to lift the descent stage onto Perseverance so that engineers could connect the two with flight-separation bolts.
When it's time for the rover to touch down on Mars, these three bolts will be released by small pyrotechnic charges, and the spacecraft will execute the sky crane manoeuvre: Nylon cords spool out through what are called bridle exit guides to lower the rover 7.6 metres below the descent stage. Once Perseverance senses it is on the surface, pyrotechnically-fired blades will sever the cords, and the descent stage flies off.
The sky crane manoeuvre ensures Perseverance will land on the Martian surface free of any other spacecraft components, eliminating the need for a complex deployment procedure.
David Gruel, the Perseverance rover assembly, test, and launch operations manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, which manages rover operations explained, “Attaching the rover to the descent stage is a major milestone for the team because these are the first spacecraft components to come together for launch, and they will be the last to separate when we reach Mars.”
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On 29 April, the rover and descent stage were attached to the cone-shaped back shell, which contains the parachute and, along with the mission's heat shield, provides protection for the rover and descent stage during Martian atmospheric entry.
“These two assemblies will remain firmly nestled together until they are about 65 feet [20 metres] over the surface of Mars,” Gruel added.
Whether they are working on final assembly of the vehicle at Kennedy Space Center, testing software and subsystems at JPL or (as the majority of the team is doing) teleworking due to coronavirus safety precautions, the Perseverance team remains on track to meet the opening of the rover's launch period.
No matter what day Perseverance launches, it will land at Mars' Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021.
The Perseverance rover's astrobiology mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life.
It will also characterise the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.
The Perseverance rover mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of Mars.
Charged with returning astronauts to the moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans.
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