It's touchdown

Perfect landing for NASA mission to hunt for traces of life on Red Planet

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

SPACE rover Perseverance made a faultless touchdown on Mars at 8.55pm last night as it began a search for life on the Red Planet.

Its landing after a “seven minutes of terror” descent into the thin Martian atmosphere was a triumph for the US Space Agency.

The capsule carrying the rover slowed from 12,000mph to 1.7mph before the rover was gently lowered to solid ground.

A total of 23 cameras, including those with color, zoom, and video capability, and two microphones captured the moment.

Swati Mohan, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, confirmed everyone’s hopes saying: “Perseverance successfully lands on Mars.”

Now the rover – a €2.3bn car-sized, six-wheeled probe – will set to work trying to determine if Mars has previously supported life or could in the future.

NASA’s ninth mission to Mars followed a 293million-mile, seven-month journey through space.