MARS 2020 Mission – Perseverance & Ingenuity

It is yet going to be another launch to our red planet – The Mars. We are all excited for this MARS 2020 mission which will be happening in just a few days. You can take a look at these below links for the live coverage of the launch. Before they launch Perseverance and Ingenuity, let us know some information about them.

The responsibility and the credit of this mission goes to NASA. This isn’t the first time NASA has sent a rover to MARS. A rover is nothing but a robotic vehicle. In total, four rovers were sent by NASA and they are: Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, and Curiosity.

The previous mission was to determine the role of water in Mars and whether Mars could have supported life. Also, to study the planet’s climate and geology. This mission was done by a rover named “Curiosity” which was sent in November, 2011 and landed on Mars in August, 2012. Curiosity rover is still functioning unlike the other three rovers. 

The launch of Perseverance rover is actually the fifth mission by NASA and this time, the rover won’t be alone because they are sending a Helicopter named Ingenuity along with the rover. It takes 7 months for Perseverance and Ingenuity to reach the orbit of Mars and only 7 minutes to reach its surface. By the month of February 2021, they will reach the surface of Mars.

Similar to the previous mission of Curiosity rover, Perseverance will also launch from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on an “Atlas V 541 rocket” which is considered to be the most powerful rockets currently available for interplanetary spacecraft. The landing site of the rover will be Jezero Crater – a giant basin that once contained water which was formed a billion of years ago.

  The main mission of Perseverance rover is to search for astrobiological evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars. The rover is designed to land at Jezero Crater for a reason. Ken Fraley, the mission’s project scientist based at Caltech in Pasadena says “We ultimately chose Jezero Crater because it is such a promising location for finding organic molecules and other potential signs of microbial life“. If you think what is so special about the Perseverance rover than any other rover that has been sent to the Red planet, the answer is simple. Yes, it is special indeed. The Mars Perseverance rover helps prepare for future human exploration of Mars by testing a technology for extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere which is 96 percent carbon dioxide. Testing this new technology, helps the mission planners to look at the natural resources in Mars to support human explorers and improve the designs for life support, transportation within the planet and other important systems for living and working on Mars. The Perseverance rover has full color camera also a microphone is attached that allows engineers to analyse the entry, descent and results in better landing. Perseverance collects the samples and that will be sent to Earth by another mission for further analyses. 

• For more details about Perseverance rover refer : https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview/
• If you wonder how we get back those samples to Earth, refer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNnJBKR9lqY

As I mentioned earlier, Perseverance is not alone in this mission. NASA is sending a Helicopter Ingenuity along with the rover. Ingenuity is going to be the first ever aircraft to do a test flight with limited scope. Also, it is the first ever to attempt controlled flight on another planet. The advanced tests have been conducted to Ingenuity such that it will be capable of surviving in a Mars-like environment. This helicopter can offer an ambitious aerial dimension, meaning that it can focus a unique viewpoint. It enables access to terrain that is difficult for the rovers to reach. 

The launching date for this Mars 2020 mission has been confirmed on 30th July 2020 – 7.50 a.m. EDT / 5.20 p.m. IST and it is estimated to land by Feb 18, 2021. The duration of this mission will be at least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days). We are now counting days for this launch, a much excited week it is!

After a confirmed successful landing of Perseverance on February 18, 2021. The first Panorama image sent by the rover was breath-taking and incredible of course, when compared to the other images sent by other rovers.

On April 19, 2021 NASA’s Ingenuity rover had its first successful flight in the land of Mars. It is the first aircraft in history to make a powered and controlled flight on another planet. A whole lot of new information is yet to come!