NASA’s Perseverance Rover close to Mars Landing
Launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 30, 2020, the Mars Perseverance Rover is now just weeks away from landing on the red planet. The most recent of NASA’s Mars rovers, Perseverance is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18, 2021.
You can watch the complete Mars Perseverance Rover mission overview video below, but read on as we describe the key mission events as well.
The Mars Perseverance Rover will use a landing system much like that of the Curiosity rover. As it enters the atmosphere a parachute will help to initially slow the descent vehicle carrying Perseverance to the surface.
Next, the descent vehicle will use it engines to continue decelerating as it nears the surface. Finally, the descent vehicle will lower the Perseverance Rover the final few feet to the Martian surface before cutting its cables and flying away – referred to as a “skycrane maneuver.”
According to NASA, this type of landing system enables the agency to land much larger and heavier rovers without damaging them. Smaller, earlier rovers like Pathfinder essentially bounced the final few meters to the surface surrounded by airbags.
Once on the surface, Perseverance will begin what is planned to be at least a one year mission of exploration. The rover will be searching for signs of past microbial life on Mars. This time the rover has a drill and will collect and store core samples and soil samples.
Perseverance will also test a new technology – a way to extract oxygen from the 96% carbon dioxide Martian atmosphere. This is a very exciting test as it could be a big step forward for a human presence on Mars.
Another exciting moment will occur during the mission when the Perseverance rover unveils the new Mars Helicopter. That’s right, NASA will be testing its first powered flight vehicle on Mars.
We will provide a live stream of the Mars Perseverance Rover landing to allow our readers to watch the Mars landing play out live on February 18, 2021 – be sure to come back to watch that event here.
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