To detect signs of ancient life on the red planet, NASA successfully launched its 5th Mars rover, Mars 2020/Perseverance Rover on 30th July 2020 Thursday at 07:50 am local time (11:50 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a ULA Atlas V rocket. The main aim of Mars 2020/ Perseverance rover is to understand the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient life. It will also test new technology to benefit future robotic and human exploration of Mars. To reach its destination the mission takes approximately 7 months. It is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18, 2021, on the planet’s previously unexplored Jezero Crater.
WHY JEZERO CRATER TAKEN AS THE LANDING SITE?
Jezero Crater on Mars is a 45-km wide crater on the western edge of Isidis Planitia, a giant impact basin just north of the Martian equator. The crater was a site of a lake, more than 3.5 billion years ago. Also, the existence of distinct deposits of minerals called carbonates, in the crater shows that it might have hosted Martian life.
Unlike the previous four rovers NASA has sent to Mars, it is a new rover with a well-equipped system to directly detect the signs of life. The mission will collect and store a set of rock and soil samples that could be returned to Earth in the future.
HOW PERSEVERANCE DIFFER FROM PREVIOUS MARS ROVERS?
The perseverance rover is not travelling alone. It consists of microphones and 23 cameras. Many of them are colour, while some have new zoom capabilities and can even capture video. It also contains a machine helicopter weighing 1.8 Kg, named Ingenuity which is a technology demonstration.
The purpose of Ingenuity is to demonstrate that aero-vehicles can operate in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars. The command to fly will be sent to Ingenuity well in advance. After the flight takes place, the engineering data from the flight will be returned to Earth. Ingenuity will communicate through the rover, which will then communicate with an orbiter that in turn communicates with the Earth. If successful, these technologies could enable advanced robotic flying vehicles for the future robotic and human missions to Mars.
The expected mission duration is for at least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days). The total cost of this mission is approx. $2.7 billion. Also, in future NASA and ESA are together planning for a Mars Sample Return campaign to return the samples collected by the perseverance rover, to Earth. Hopefully, we can infer that, the Mars 2020 mission will pave way for the future manned missions to the Mars.
To watch Mars Perseverance Rover Sample Collection Animation- Click here
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