Sky crane (landing system)

[2] Instead, a landing system that combined a protective aeroshell, supersonic parachutes, and sky crane was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under Adam Steltzner.

Following the parachute braking, at about 1.8 km (1.1 mi) altitude, still travelling at about 100 m/s (220 mph), the rover and descent stage dropped out of the aeroshell.

Each rocket thruster, called a Mars Lander Engine (MLE),[11] produces 400 to 3,100 N (90 to 697 lbf) of thrust.

At roughly 7.5 m (25 ft) below the descent stage the sky crane system slowed to a halt and the rover touched down.

After the rover touched down, it waited two seconds to confirm that it was on solid ground by detecting the weight on the wheels and fired several pyrotechnic fasteners activating cable cutters on the bridle and umbilical cords to free itself from the descent stage.

[13] During the atmospheric entry, the spacecraft jettisoned the lower heat shield and deployed a parachute from the backshell to slow the descent to a controlled speed.

With about 12 seconds before touchdown, at about 66 feet (20 meters) above the surface, the descent stage lowers the rover on a set of cables about 21 feet (6.4 meters) long until it confirmed touchdown, detached the cables, and flew a distance away to avoid damaging the rover.

[16] Ingenuity reported back to NASA via the communications systems on Perseverance the following day, confirming its status.