Satellite deployment and Eve landing
Now was the time to begin completing the mission's objectives. The first was easy: deployment of the Eve Reconaissance Orbiter.
This completed the first main objective. Next, the Gilly recon satellite and its booster stage separated from the main craft.
As Gilly was not in position for a transfer yet, the Gilly recon satellite would remain in Eve orbit until after the rover landing.
Having released both satellites, the spacecraft prepared for its final task: deorbiting the rover. The first step was transferring leftover fuel from the redundant satellite booster stage.
It then jettisoned the empty booster stage in order to recover weight balance.
The deorbit burn targeted one of the bigger landmasses of Eve, avoiding the large oceans, many of which appear to be huge meteorite craters.
Then, after more than 10 million kilometers and multiple aerobraking episodes, the main craft separated from the rover. It would continue on the reentry trajectory to its doom on the surface of Eve.
The rover reoriented itself, heatshield first. A few minutes after separation, atmospheric interface was recorded.
Entering the atmosphere at over 3 km/s, the heatshield quickly bled off the craft's speed as it slammed into the increasingly dense aire.
At 27,000 meters, the parachute was released from its enclosure, still not opening but adding to the craft's drag.
Soon after, the heatshield was jettisoned.
The rover continued its descent, slowing down in the dense Eve atmosphere.
500 m above the surface, the parachute opened.
And the robotic rover finally landed.
The first step was deploying its antennas and checking its instruments.
The first images from the surface of Eve showed a barren landscape dominated by the violet-blue glow of the atmosphere.
The rover then departed towards its first geologic target, a rock formation by the landing site.
The samples obtained would provide invaluable scientific information on the history of Eve.
The Eve rover would continue on its mission of surveying the surface. The second objective of the mission was now complete.
Continue to Gilly transfer ...
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