A 360-degree panoramic image with 2.4 billion pixels and no less than 992 shots documenting the environment of the planet Mars: if you missed this extraordinary achievement of technology and research, you can easily make up for it here, but know that thanks to an innovative Made in Italy technology, we can now stand open-mouthed in front of these images.
LaRa, a super-tech micro-reflector
And if all this is possible, credit is also due to LaRa, a super-technological micro-reflector on the Perseverance rover, whose task is to accurately measure the rover’s position, both locally and relative to the global Martian cartography. LaRA will also guide the landing of a future laser-equipped mission to retrieve samples stored by Perseverance and study ground movements and, thus, geophysics.
Accurate position measurements
LaRa is a device weighing just a few grams, made of gold-plated aluminium, installed on the vehicle that landed on the Red Planet on 18 February 2021 as part of the Mars 2020 mission, after a journey lasting 203 days. Designed and built on the outskirts of Rome for NASA by Italian physicists from the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Frascati, LaRa can help scientists accurately measure the position of rovers on Mars and make future landings on the Red Planet more efficient.
An interesting fact about the probe’s name: the name “Perseverance” was chosen by a 12-year-old boy from Virginia, the winner of the national “Name the Rover” competition!
Italian passion and commitment in every sector know no bounds!
Congratulations to those who work to bring Made in Italy to the world and even into space!
Read the stories of other outstanding Made in Italy companies in the science and technology sector.