Perseverance - this is the name that the Mars rover will carry which NASA will send to Mars in the summer. Perseverance will be one of the few rovers going to the Red Planet this year.
The Mars 2020 rover, which today received the name Perseverance, is based on the well-known and extremely brave Curiosity rover (MSL), which since November 2011 rides on the surface of the Red Planet. Its dimensions resemble a car: it is 3 m long, 2.7 m wide and 2.2 m high. Its weight is 1025 kg.
The latest rover is part of NASA's long-term Mars exploration program. The goal of the program is to seek answers to key astrobiology questions about the possibility of life on Mars. As part of the rover's mission, scientists will not only look for signs that life-giving conditions existed on Mars in the past, but will also actively seek traces of past microbiological life.
The Mars 2020 rover includes drill, whose task will be to collect samples of the most promising rocks and leave them wrapped on the surface of Mars, assuming that as part of the next mission it will be possible to collect and send them to Earth.
In this way, it would be possible to test samples in laboratories using equipment that cannot currently be delivered to Mars. Such studies could test methods for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, improve the landing technique and characterize weather, dustiness and other environmental conditions that would affect potential future astronauts landing and working on Mars.
According to current plans, the Perseverance rover will launch towards Mars in June this year, when Earth and Mars are in a proper arrangement relative to each other, allowing them to cover the road to Mars with the least possible fuel. The launch window for the rover will be open from February 17 to August 5 this year. Landing is scheduled for February 18, 2021. From the moment of landing, the planned time of the basic mission is one Martian year (i.e. 687 Earth days), of course with the possibility of extension.
The main objectives of the mission are:
- determining if life ever originated on Earth
- characterizing the climate on Mars
- characterization of Mars geology
- preparation for manned missions
In addition to the Perseverance rover, Mars will soon be flying the Rosalind Franklin rover built by the European Space Agency and Roskosmos, the rover prepared by China and the Hope orbiter built by the United Arab Emirates.
NASA's latest Mars rover was named Perseverance. It will fly to Mars in June
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