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Space fans crack secret message on NASA's Mars parachute

The huge parachute used by NASA's Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team.

Systems engineer Ian Clark used binary code to spell words in orange and white strips

The Associated Press ·
This image from video made available by NASA shows the parachute deployed during the descent of the Mars Perseverance rover as it approaches the surface of the planet on Feb. 18. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/The Associated Press)

The huge parachute used by NASA's Perseverance rover to land on Mars last week contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team.

Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out "Dare Mighty Things" in the orange and white strips of the 70-foot (21-metre) parachute. He also included the GPS co-ordinates for the mission's headquarters at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

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 "super fun," Clark said Tuesday.

Only about six people knew about the encoded message before Thursday's landing, according to Clark. They waited until the parachute images came back before putting out a teaser during a televised news conference Monday.

This illustration provided by NASA shows a diagram overlaid on the parachute deployed during the descent of the Mars Perseverance rover. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out 'Dare Mighty Things' in the orange and white strips of the parachute. He also included the GPS co-ordinates for the mission's headquarters at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/The Associated Press)

It took just a few hours for space fans to figure it out, Clark said. Next time, he noted, "I'll have to be a little bit more creative."

Look out for plaque depicting rover family

A line from former president Theodore Roosevelt, "Dare Mighty Things" is a mantra at JPL and adorns many of the centre's walls. Clark said the trick was "trying to come up with a way of encoding it but not making it too obvious."

As for the GPS co-ordinates, the spot is 10 feet (three metres) from the entrance to JPL's visitor centre.

WATCH | NASA's Perseverance begins Mars rover mission:

NASA’s Perseverance rover begins Mars mission

4 years ago
Duration 4:50
NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed on Mars to begin a mission collecting samples to eventually send back to Earth. The most difficult Mars mission to date also includes the work of some Canadian scientists.

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, similar to the family car decals seen on Earth.

Deputy project manager Matt Wallace promises more hidden Easter eggs. They should be visible once Perseverance's seven-foot (two-metre) arm is deployed in a few days and starts photographing under the vehicle, and again when the rover is driving in a couple of weeks.

"Definitely should keep a good lookout," he urged.

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