Written by: Ananya Sankar
Perseverance
On July 30, 2020 Perseverance was launched to Mars and on February 18, 2021, Perseverance was landed and made history. Perseverance is a space rover that was made by NASA but the manufacturer was Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Perseverance sets a new bar for our ambitions at Mars," said Lori Glaze, Planetary Science Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We will get closer than ever before to answer some of science's longest-standing questions about the Red Planet, including whether life ever arose there."
So, likewise, scientists want to know more about Mars so they sent a high-tech rover named Perseverance. Its mission is to get new information to help NASA scientists figure out Mars. The high-tech instrument is put in the rover to help scan the planet's surface and can analyze rocks, soils, and minerals. The rover drills into the rocks so that it can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils, and set them aside from a hidden bag to place on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth, so the scientist can see what mars' rocks are like and analyze them. It will search for evidence of microbial life that could have existed on Mars billions of years ago.
"Building this incredibly sophisticated rover has been the hardest thing I’ve ever been a part of as an engineer," said Ray Baker, the mission's Flight System Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "While coronavirus added significant challenges and logistics, the team has shown great determination and diligence to build a rover we can be proud to send to Mars. We can't wait to see the many years of dedication pay off at the launch pad." The Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, is based on the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover configuration. It is car-sized, about 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall (about 3 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall). While on the lookout, Mars orbiters have been collecting images and other data from Jezero Crater from about 200 miles (322 kilometers) above, but finding signs of ancient life on the surface will require much closer inspection. It demands a rover like Perseverance, which can look for signs that may be related to life and can analyze the context in which they were found to see if they were biological in origin. Verifying ancient microscopic life on Mars carries an enormous burden of proof. Perseverance is the first rover to bring a sample-gathering system to Mars that will package promising examples of rocks and sediments for return to Earth by a future mission. Understanding Mars' past climate conditions and reading the geological history embedded in its rocks will also give us a sense of why Earth and Mars – which formed from the same primordial stuff – ended up so different.
Ingenuity
A solar-powered tiny helicopter that will be the first powered aircraft to fly across another planet is named Ingenuity. Ingenuity's mission is to provide more information, so in the future, humans and other robots might fly there. For one thing, the helicopter is extremely light. And to generate lift, its blades are much larger and spin many times faster than a helicopter on Earth would. Ingenuity weighs about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) on Earth. It started out six years ago as a test subject and has now passed its tests to take flight. Ingenuity does not carry any science instruments and is not part of Perseverance’s science mission. The only objective for this helicopter is out of curiosity because if it succeeds, in the future humans and other robots might fly there. However one of the challenges is that Mars’ atmosphere is around 1% the density of Earth. The lack of density gives Ingenuity hard times as rotor blades are much larger and spin faster than a helicopter of Ingenuity’s mass here on our planet. It also must be extremely light to travel to Mars. Also, the Red Planet has incredibly cold temperatures, with nights reaching minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (-90 degrees Celsius) in Jezero Crater, where our rover and helicopter will land. Tests on Earth at the predicted temperatures indicate Ingenuity’s parts should work as designed. Ingenuity got named because "The ingenuity and brilliance of people working hard to overcome the challenges of interplanetary travel are what allows us all to experience the wonders of space exploration," Rupani wrote. "Ingenuity is what allows people to accomplish amazing things."
Interesting facts that you didn't know.
1. Rover Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars
2. Mission Duration: At least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days)
3. Perseverance is the fifth rover to land on Mars It joins four other six-wheeled bots named Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity along with NASA's first two spacecraft to land on Mars, Viking 1 and 2 in 1976.
4. The landing system for the rover includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a “sky crane maneuver” for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.
5. The rover and other parts of the Mars 2020 has spacecraft feature of 23+ cameras so you can come along for a high-definition view of the landing process after the rover safely touches down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021.
If you like the pictures here are some site you should check out these sites:
Credit goes to: Perseverance & Ingenuity
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