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People Made Hilarious Memes Of 'First Images' From Mars After NASA Rover Landed

People Made Hilarious Memes Of 'First Images' From Mars After NASA Rover Landed

From Bernie Sanders to Alien, they were all there.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Scientists erupted in cheers and hugs inside the NASA control room when the Perseverance Rover successfully landed on Mars.

In a mission that has been seven-months in the making, the rover touched down on the Red Planet this evening (February 18).

Minutes after Perseverance beamed a message back to Earth that it was fine and dandy, it revealed it would send through its first look at the surface of Mars.

There were two black and white pictures that displayed the dusty and barren landscape that is our planetary neighbour.

However, it didn't take long for people to start memeing the hell out of the moment.

From celebrities to the Bernie Sanders meme to, of course, Alien, there was no shortage of people and things being beamed onto the surface of Mars.

The space agency's six-wheeled robot first embarked on the trip seven months ago, and has now completed its 470-million-km journey from Earth.

But of all the almost incomprehensibly complex obstacles the rover had to overcome to make it to Mars, the landing was undoubtedly the most challenging and nerve-racking part - with almost half of the spacecraft sent to land on Mars failing to pull it off.

This final minuscule portion of the trip is sometimes referred to as 'seven minutes of terror' - not only because of the intricate sequence involved, but also because radio signals take so long to reach Earth that, by the time they've reached us, the landing has already happened.

PA

In a 2012 video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, EDL Engineer Adam Steltzner explained how the delay in signals reaching Earth results in a terrifying finale.

He said: "From the top of the atmosphere down to the surface it takes us seven minutes.

"It takes 14 minutes or so for the signal from the spacecraft to make it to Earth - that's how far Mars is away from us - so when we first get word that we've touched the top of the atmosphere, the vehicle has been live or dead on the surface for at least seven minutes."

Now that is has landed safely, the rover will begin looking for ancient signs of life - once it's finished tweeting.

It is also joined by a helicopter named Ingenuity, which will undertake the first ever powered flight on another planet.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Nasa, space