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The next rover to land on the surface of the Red Planet is the Perseverance rover. The rover is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18, 2021. NASA has released a new animated video showing key events in the rover’s landing process.
The forces the rover will experience during the landing process are incredible. The spacecraft will have to slow from about 12,100 mph as it enters the upper Martian atmosphere to about two mph upon landing in Jezero crater. Perseverance’s mission is to search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars.
The rover will also collect samples of regoliths and Martian rocks. Other tasks involve attempts to characterize the geology and climate of Mars, which are part of efforts to pave the way for humans to set foot on Mars. Perseverance launched on July 30, 2020, while carrying multiple science instruments, one of the most exciting experiments to be conducted involves the Mars Helicopter.
NASA is trying to see if a helicopter can operate on Mars. The challenge is that the Martian atmosphere is much thinner than Earth’s atmosphere and it is unclear whether the helicopter will be able to fly. If helicopters can operate on Mars, it opens the door to a much broader exploration capability.
The NASA animation video can be seen above and it’s an interesting watch that only lasts a little over three minutes. The animation certainly shows how impressive it is that humans can design a spaceship capable of surviving and operating in such a challenging environment. If you have nothing else to do on Christmas Eve, it is worth seeing.
