WASHINGTON– When the White House contacted us to praise NASA on the effective landing of the Mars wanderer Perseverance, acting manager Steve Jurczyk brand-new instantly it was the genuine offer.
“About an hour after landing, I got a phone call from the president of the United States, and his first words were, ‘Congratulations, man,’” Jurczyk remembered throughout aFeb 18 interview at theJet Propulsion Laboratory “I knew it was him. I wasn’t getting punked.”
Jurczyk stated that President Biden stated he took pride in the landing “and wanted me to send my regards to Percy.” He included that the head of state wished to praise the group directly somehow. “We’re looking forward to having the president of the United States congratulate the team this week.”
Biden likewise tweeted out his congratulations to the company for the landing of the one-ton wanderer onMars “Congratulations to NASA and everyone whose hard work made Perseverance’s historic landing possible,” he specified. “Today proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.”
Those remarks were resembled by numerous various other political numbers, consisting of Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and also numerous participants of Congress, via social media sites articles and also news release.
“Congratulations to NASA for today’s successful landing of Perseverance,” statedRep Frank Lucas (R-Okla), placing participant of the House Science Committee, in a declaration. “Seven months ago, we launched this rover full of hope and excitement. Today we sat through the famous seven minutes of terror as Perseverance fell through the atmosphere, slowing down so it could safely land.”
“Sending a car-size rover to plunge through the Martian atmosphere at speeds of over 12,000 miles per hour and execute a series of complex entry, decent, and landing procedures leading to a successful landing on the surface is no small feat,” statedRep Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the House Science Committee, in a declaration.
A couple of participants of Congress had a front-row seat to the party.Sen Jerry Moran (R-Kan), placing participant of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, went to JPL, seeing from a gallery neglecting the objective procedures facility.
“We saw evidence of how capable we are with technology, science and engineering,” he stated in a meeting quickly after thelanding “But there’s certainly a human aspect that you may not see if you read an article or see a space mission on television, to see the commitment, the pride, the effort of the members of this team at JPL.”
The effective landing by Perseverance might sustain NASA’s more comprehensive expedition initiatives, consisting of goals to the moon and also lasting prepare for human explorations toMars “We are certainly interested in supporting further planetary exploration. We will have to balance that once again, as we do all the time, with the various missions of NASA,” he stated. “I think that what happens at Mars does have a consequence to what happens at the moon, and vice versa. They go together.”
He warned, however, that those initiatives will certainly need to finish with various other concerns, inside and also beyond the company. “We’ll have our work cut out for us with limited funds to garner the greatest level of support that we can, but also try to prioritize which missions are the most important,” he stated. The success of Perseverance “will be a help in garnering support across Congress for the necessary funding.”
That prioritization was proof in the 2021 appropriations costs Congress come on December, which totally moneyed components of NASA’s total Artemis lunar expedition program, such as the Space Launch System and also Orion, however supplied just concerning a quarter of NASA’s asked for financing for the Human Landing System program. That placed the previous management’s objective of returning people to the surface area of the moon by 2024 at risk.
“I’m a supporter of the Artemis program, but we did make decisions that other things, in addition to Artemis, needed to be funded,” he stated. “I’m anxious to see what the administration’s priorities are and anxious to know what the priorities are of a new administrator of NASA.” The White House supported the Artemis program generallyFeb 4, however not particularly the 2024 objective.
The landing of Perseverance had various other advantages also. “One takeaway for me today is that I keep looking for these moments in our country that bring us together in the political, cultural, citizenship kind of way, and inspire kids across our country to pursue careers in science, mathematics and engineering,” Moran stated. “This was one of those days to pull the country together and inspire another generation of American scientists.”