---
title: "First-Person Vid Shows Perseverance Hurtling Toward Mars Surface"
description: "NASA has released an incredible video of the pictures its Perseverance rover took right before landing on Mars on February 18th."
date: "2021-03-11"
modified: "2021-03-11"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/first-person-vid-shows-perseverance-hurtling-toward-martian-surface"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "perseverance"
  - "the digest"
---

# First-Person Vid Shows Perseverance Hurtling Toward Mars Surface

![NASA has released an incredible video of the pictures its Perseverance rover took right before landing on Mars on February 18th.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/first-person-vid-shows-perseverance-hurtling-toward-martian-surface.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Landing on Mars

NASA has released an incredible video, stitched together from shots its Perseverance rover took right before landing on Mars on February 18th.

"You’re looking at the real deal images I used to make my pinpoint landing," a tweet by the rover's official Twitter account reads.

The video kicks off with the heat shield being blown off, revealing the camera below. The rover then plummets towards the surface at breakneck speeds, occasionally dipping left and right before touching down.

https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1369807846339014657

## Terrain-Relative Navigation

The video demonstrates Perseverance's "Terrain-Relative Navigation" system, a sophisticated landing technique that allowed the rover to pick the perfect landing site by first taking a bunch of photos — as seen in the video — and comparing them to existing orbital maps of the surface below in order to make any diversions if necessary.

According [to NASA](<https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/technology/#Terrain-Relative-Navigation>), the "technique had an estimation error of about 0.6 - 1.2 miles (about 1-2 kilometers), which grows to about (2 - 3 kilometers) during entry."

The same system also helped the rover determine where it was relative to the ground, with an accuracy of just 130 feet.

During Perseverance's descent, engineers were also able to take valuable data from the heat shield's performance, making sure that future rovers will survive their "seven minutes of hell" as they descend through the Martian atmosphere.

**More on Perseverance:** *[NASA’s New Rover Just Shot a Rock With Its Laser](<https://futurism.com/nasa-rover-shot-rock-with-laser>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)