CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. 鈥� The huge parachute used by NASA鈥檚 Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team.
Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out 鈥淒are Mighty Things鈥� in the orange and white strips of the 70-foot (21-meter) parachute. He also included the GPS
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 oriented during descent. Turning it into a secret message was 鈥渟uper fun," he said Tuesday.
Only about six people knew about the encoded message before Thursday鈥檚 landing, according to Clark. They waited until the parachute images came back before putting out a teaser during a televised news conference Monday.
It took just a few hours for space fans to figure it out, Clark said. Next time, he noted, 鈥淚鈥檒l have to be a little bit more creative.鈥�
鈥淒are Mighty Things鈥� 鈥� a line from President Theodore Roosevelt 鈥� is a mantra at JPL and adorns many of the
As for the GPS
Another added touch not widely known until touchdown: Perseverance bears a plaque depicting all five of NASA's Mars rovers in increasing size over the years 鈥� similar to the family car decals seen on Earth.
Deputy project manager Matt Wallace promises more so-called hidden Easter eggs. They should be visible once Perseverance's 7-foot (2-meter) arm is deployed in a few days and starts photographing under the vehicle, and again when the rover is driving in a couple weeks.
鈥淒efinitely, definitely should keep a good lookout,鈥� he urged.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press
