The latest NASA Mars mission is the Perseverance rover which is due to launch between July 30 and August 15. Scheduled to land on Mars on February 18, 2021, the rover will spend two Earth years exploring the Jezero Crater, a site where water is thought to have existed for millions of years.
Evidence from previous missions suggests that Mars was a habitable planet in the past. As such, Perseverance will be investigating and searching for evidence of ancient microbial life with the help of various cameras including Mastcam-Z and Supercam which will scan for bio-signatures. Rock and soil samples will be collected by drilling tubes onto the surface for core samples.
“Fifty-one years ago today, NASA was deep into final preparations for the first Moon landing,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Today we stand at the threshold of another monumental moment in exploration: sample collection at Mars. As we celebrate the heroes of Apollo 11 today, future generations may well recognize the women and men of Perseverance — not only for what they will achieve 100 million miles from home, but for what they were able to accomplish on this world on the road to launch.”
There is also a Mars helicopter named Ingenuity attached to the rover which will perform a flight demonstration on The Red Planet; the very first powered flight on Mars which will image the terrain and transmit the data for analysis.
Many civilizations have been enchanted by Mars for centuries with various names given including Mangal, Mesopotamia, Ares and Horus. The name Mars itself originates from the Romans when they renamed all the Ancient Greek Gods. All these civilizations had different depictions of Mars but the similarity within them was that due to the red hue of this planet it was associated with war and destruction.
The launch will take place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Although the public is welcome to visit and watch the launch, they will be required to wear masks and maintain a safe distance between each other due to COVID-19. Better yet, the launch can be watched online.
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