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A Flight Director's Focus

Flight director sign in mission control with American flag in background

September 30, 2020

Flight Director Matt Smith studies the data during the second post-launch trajectory correction maneuver during Perseverance’s cruise to Mars. The team is in the Mission Support Area at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to view Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, on Jan. 12, 2022, the 319th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
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The Mars Perseverance rover’s SuperCam instrument team uses COCPIT at the French Operations Center for Science and Exploration at the National Center for Space Studies field center in Toulouse, France.
COCPIT in Use by SuperCam Team in France
Illustration depicts Mars Helicopter Ingenuity during a test flight on Mars. Ingenuity was taken to the Red Planet strapped to the belly of the Perseverance rover (seen in the background).  
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llustration of Mars Helicopter in flight over a flat Martian landscape, with the Perseverance rover in the distant background.
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used the WATSON camera on the end of its robotic arm to conduct a focus test on May 10, 2021, the 78th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used the WATSON camera on the end of its robotic arm to conduct a focus test on May 10, 2021, the 79th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
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An illustration of an aluminum plate with the blue NASA insignia
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A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket with NASA's Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover rolls from the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-...
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An Atlas V rocket with NASA's Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover on board
Mars 2020/Perseverance Atlas V Fairing
In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers observed the first driving test for NASA's Mars 2020 rover on Dec. 17, 2019.
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Allen with Engineering Models in the Mars Yard
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This set of images shows parts of the robotic arm on NASA’s Perseverance rover flexing and turning during its first checkout after landing on Mars. These images were taken by Perseverance’s Navigation Cameras on March 3, 2021.
Flexing Perseverance's Robotic Arm
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Members of NASA’s Perseverance rover team react as they hear Perseverance is safe on the ground
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This time-lapse video, taken on Oct. 8, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, captures the first time the Mars 2020 rover carries its full weight on its legs and wheels.
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A time-lapse video, taken JPL, captures the first time NASA's Mars 2020 rover has carried its full weight on its legs and wheels.
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The upper swashplate of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter controls the pitch of the upper rotor blades as they rotate and is critical to stable, controlled flight. The swashplate is driven by three ...
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Labels of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's rotor blade, pitch link, servo, and swashplate.
Ingenuity's Upper Swashplate Assembly
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30, 2020.
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The rocket carrying Mars 2020 on its way to Mars
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The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this image with its color camera from beneath the Perseverance rover after the rover had deployed the rotorcraft to the surface of Mars. Image was taken on April ...
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The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this image with its color camera from beneath the Perseverance rover after the rover had deployed the rotorcraft to the surface of Mars. Image was taken on April 3, 2021.
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This animated artist’s concept depicts water breaking through the rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater, which NASA’s Perseverance rover is now exploring. Water entered the crater billions of years ago, formi...
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