When the Perseverance rover touched down on Mars on Feb. 18, NASA controllers had only the data-stream coming back from the spacecraft to confirm that the hair-raising descent was going as planned. It was only when they got the “weight on wheels” signal—the confirmation that the rover was on the ground and supporting itself—that they knew the landing was a success.
Now, just four days later, NASA has released footage of the landing captured by multiple cameras on both the spacecraft itself and the “sky crane” descent stage that lowered the rover the last 21 meters (70 ft.) to the ground. A spectacular landing now seems all the more so.
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