NASA rover launch from Mars Perseverance delayed due to ‘contamination’

The Mars Perseverance rover and the Wit helicopter Tucked into his belly they are mostly ready to fly to Mars, but some technical issues mean they will have to wait a little longer. July 22 is the new target date for NASA’s launch.

NASA announced last week that it was delaying the date for the second time. The launch of the rover was originally set for July 17 before it was rescheduled for July 20. The new shift on July 22 is necessary “due to a delay in processing found during the spacecraft’s encapsulation activities.”

NASA broadened the topic and said, “Additional time was needed to resolve a contamination problem on ground support lines at NASA’s Hazardous Cargo Services Facility (PHSF).” NASA also released a photo of the rover packed at PHSF where he is getting into the fairings that will protect him during launch.

The slight delay is not a major concern as the launch period runs until August 11. However, the overall window is critical. If NASA can’t dispatch the rover in time, it will have to wait until 2022 for its next chance due to Earth’s position relative to Mars.

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Perseverance will take off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with the help of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. NASA is targeting a two-hour window starting at 6:35 am PT for the launch of the 22nd. of July.

“Almost done,” the Perseverance rover team tweeted last week.

If all goes well, Perseverance will arrive on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021 to look for signs of past microbial life, drop off a helicopter, and collect samples from Mars that may one day be returned to Earth.