The US space agency NASA successfully launched a rocket on Thursday containing a vehicle that will search the planet Mars for signs of life.
The robot car called Perseverance was launched around 7.50 a.m. local time (1.50 p.m. Dutch time) with an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida. In February 2021, the spacecraft must reach Mars.
The Perseverence, a robot car-sized car, searches Mars for clues as to whether life has ever ruled the planet. The landing site is a 250-meter-deep crater that used to be a lake 3.5 billion years ago and where the risk of microbiological life is greatest.
The rover contains a small helicopter that will make exploration trips. The vehicle will also test equipment that may be used for a manned mission to Mars. For example, it is being investigated whether the large amounts of carbon dioxide present on the planet can be converted into rocket fuel or oxygen that can be used by humans.
It is the ninth time that NASA has launched a mission to Mars. On the surface of the red planet there are already several space cars, so-called ‘robbers’. The best known of these is Curiosity, the nickname of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) that NASA sent to the planet in 2012. In the same year, Curiosity sent pictures to Earth that proved that there must have been water on Mars.
Three space missions to Mars in July
The US is the third country to launch an unmanned space mission to Mars in July. Last Thursday, China launched the Taiwan-1, also a rover that is supposed to ride on the surface of Mars. If successful, China will become the third country to land on the planet after Russia and the US.
On July 19, the United Arab Emirates began their journey through space with the launch of the Hope satellite. With the satellite, the UAE wants to investigate the atmosphere of Mars, as well as the weather and climate on the celestial body. The UAE Hope Mission is the first interplanetary mission carried out by an Islamic country.
That there this month three launches being planned is no accident; Mars is in a favorable position with respect to Earth during this period, and that only happens once every 26 months.
Actually, the European space agency ESA also wanted to send a rover to Mars this month, but this mission had to be completed by two years postponed. Technical issues in the lander could not be resolved in time for the planned launch date.
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