As the coronavirus epidemic continues to spread, NASA is determined not to change his plans to launch his rover on Mars, which will be responsible for finding traces of life on the red planet.
The Perseverance rover, as it is called, will be the centerpiece of the Mars 2020 mission and its launch should take place in a three-week window starting on July 17.
Pixabay Credits
–
A launch window not to be missed
If NASA is so keen to maintain its launch schedule for the Perseverance rover, it is because its launch window corresponds to a period when the Earth and the red planet align correctly for interplanetary missions. Conditions that only occur once every 26 months. The stakes are high, and NASA plans to launch its car-sized rover this year, despite the ongoing epidemic.
“We will make sure to take advantage of this launch window in July”, said Lori Glaze, Director of the NASA Planetary Sciences Division. “Even if we go to a next stage of alert, March 2020 will have to advance as planned. And so far everything is going according to plan. “, she added.
The Perseverance rover is currently located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, where it is being prepared for launch. At the beginning of the month, the engineers integrated two key elements of the rover which will be used to collect blank samples from Mars for a possible return to Earth.
Aiming for traces of life on Mars
If the Perseverance rover is launched this summer as planned, it should land in February 2021 inside the Jezero crater (45 kilometers) on Mars. Scientists believe that this Martian crater housed a lake and a river delta billions of years ago. The rover will explore this region for ancient traces of life on Mars, and will collect dozens of samples.
NASA and the European Space Agency will work together to bring these precious samples back to Earth, which could be done as early as 2031. These samples can then be analyzed by scientists around the world looking for potential evidence of life on Mars, or anything else interesting.
– .
