Nasa’s Perseverance rover has sent back the first pictures from Mars after successfully landing on the red planet.
A second round of cheers and applause erupted in the control room as the images arrived minutes after touchdown.
With the image partially obscured by a dust cover, the first picture was a view from one of the Perseverance’s hazard cameras.
It showed the flat, rocky surface of the Jezero crater.
Hello, world. My first look at my forever home. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/dkM9jE9I6X
Advertisement— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021
The rover twitter account tweeted the image with the caption “Hello, world. My first look at my forever home. #CountdownToMars”
A second image taken by a camera on board the spacecraft showed a view from behind the rover of the Jezero Crater.
The mission is carrying the most cameras ever to deep space – 23 are part of the rover itself, while two are on Ingenuity.
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will fly short distances from the rover in the first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet.