CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The massive parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars carried a secret message, courtesy of a puzzle enthusiast from the space team.
Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white stripes of the 70-foot parachute. He also recorded the GPS coordinates of the mission’s headquarters at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Clark, a crossword hobbyist, came up with the idea two years ago. Engineers wanted an unusual pattern in the nylon fabric to know how the parachute was aimed during the descent. It was “super fun” to make it a secret message, he said on Tuesday.
According to Clark, only about six people knew about the encrypted message before Thursday’s landing. They waited for the parachute footage to return before releasing a teaser at a televised press conference on Monday.
It only took a few hours for space fans to find out, Clark said. Next time, he remarked, “I’ll have to be a little more creative.”
“Dare Mighty Things” – a phrase from President Theodore Roosevelt – is a mantra at JPL and adorns many of the downtown walls. The trick was “trying to figure out a way to code it, but not making it too obvious,” Clark said.
As for GPS coordinates, the site is 10 feet from the JPL Visitor Center entrance.
Another extra touch that wasn’t widely known until landing: Perseverance bears a plaque displaying all five of NASA’s Mars rovers increasingly over the years – similar to the family car stickers seen on Earth.
Another perk that wasn’t widely known until landing: Perseverance bears a plaque displaying all five of NASA’s Mars rovers increasingly over the years – similar to the family car stickers seen on Earth.
Deputy Project Manager Matt Wallace promises more so-called hidden Easter eggs. They should be visible as soon as Perseverance’s 7-foot arm is deployed in a few days and starts shooting underneath the vehicle, and again when the rover is on the road in a few weeks.
“Absolutely, should be careful,” he insisted.
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