By Isabella Doherty, Features Editor
Continuing the work of the previous Mars rovers, NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover Mission, Perseverance, is expected to leave from Cape Canaveral, Florida between July 17 and August 5 and is predicted to land on the red planet on Feb. 18, 2021.
This new mission is a continuation of the long-term robotic exploration and research of the accomplished Spirit (2004-10), Opportunity (2004-18), and Curiosity (2012-present) missions. Like the other missions, Perseverance has her own set of key questions that scientists and engineers hope will be answered in order for future human missions to Mars.
“The Mars rover missions have helped scientific research improve and the program has impacted many new discoveries,” senior Zenaira Cursetji said.
The twin discovers, Spirit and Opportunity, had the job of proving that, at some point in the red planet’s history, water existed there.
According to NASA’s mission website, Curiosity’s ongoing job is to answer if “Mars ever had the right environmental conditions to support small life forms.”
Building off of these, the 2020 mission’s goals are to find proof of past life, characterize the climate and geology, and, mainly, prepare for human exploration.
"It's designed to seek the signs of life, so we're carrying a number of different instruments that will help us understand the geological and chemical context on the surface of Mars," deputy mission leader Matt Wallace said to Agence France-Presse, a worldwide news agency.
This mission marks an opportunity to gather as much knowledge as possible as well as test out technologies designed to target challenges future human expeditions might encounter. Along with 23 cameras, Perseverance will carry a tool named Moxie which will be used to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide in the Mars atmosphere. The rover will also feature other instruments such as a miniature helicopter and the supercam (a laser blaster meant to investigate rocks and dirt). NASA additionally hopes to identify other possible resources like the potential subsurface water and work to improve landing techniques.
It’s critical that this mission studies dust, weather and other potential environmental conditions that could impact the health, safety, and living conditions of any future astronauts living and working on Mars.
“The JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has always done wondrous work to explore our solar system and beyond… This is another small step to learn about our neighboring red planet and in time, perhaps the vastness of space itself,” senior Joshua Li said.
The Perseverance mission offers an important conclusion to the rover discovery program at NASA and opens a multitude of doors for humankind’s future. With NASA’s next plan for the red planet being a 5-phase human mission in 2030 and Space X hoping to have humans there by 2024, the information this program will bring is critical.
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