Perseverance’s First Flex

Which of us hasn’t taken a selfie while flexing?

 

144 million miles away, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover just did the same thing.  Only, instead of updating its Tinder profile, the flex and selfies were part of a systems check to make sure everything was working properly.

 

The good news?  It’s all-systems-go on the red planet.

 

As Robert Hogg, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover deputy mission manager, said, “That’s the main tool the science team will use to do a close-up examination of the geologic features of Jezero Crater, and then we’ll drill and sample the ones they find the most interesting. When we got confirmation of the robotic arm flexing its muscles, including images of it working beautifully after its long trip to Mars – well, it made my day.”

 

It made ours, too.

 

As the builders of that robotic arm, all of us back here at Motiv Space Systems are incredibly gratified to see everything working as designed.  It’s a momentous occasion for the team at Motiv who poured their talent and time into the development of Perseverance’s robotic arm. A big thanks to our partners at NASA and NASA’s JPL in Pasadena.