CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA is counting down for the launch of its new rover from Mars. The robot the size of a car, called Perseverance, is scheduled to take off for the Red Planet on Thursday (July 30) during a two-hour period that opens at 7:50 am EDT (1150 GMT), and you can watch it live.
Perseverance will launch on a United V Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover will land on the floor of Mars Jezero Crater February 18, 2021.
Launch coverage will begin on Thursday at 7 am EDT (1100 GMT), with the launch window open until approximately 9:50 am EDT (1350 GMT). There will be multiple opportunities to launch within that time period, and you can see the live launch here on Space.com, as well as through POT. ULA will also offer a live webcast of the launch, which will begin about 20 minutes before takeoff.
Related: NASA Mars Perseverance rover mission to the Red Planet (photos)
The weather forecast looks good for the takeoff planned for tomorrow, with an 80% chance of favorable conditions. Sunny skies are expected, with only minor concerns about the cloud layer.
The powerful Atlas V rocket It will launch in its 541 configuration. Nicknamed the “Dominator” by ULA CEO Tory Bruno, this version of the Atlas V is the second most powerful on the market. Accompanying the RD-180 main engine will be four solid rocket engines on a leash along with a Centaur top stage. Together the first stage and the solid rocket engines will produce 2.3 million pounds. push.
Perseverance Trip to Mars It will take approximately 6.5 months and culminate in an intense landing sequence that NASA officials have called “7 minutes of terror.” Perseverance will have to deal with that terror on its own: once the command is started to start the landing sequence, the rover is alone.
After a successful landing, the rover will spend the next few years exploring the 45-kilometer-wide floor of the Jezero, which was home to a lake and river delta billions of years ago. NASA scientists have rated the crater as one of the most habitable places on (ancient) Mars.
Acting as a mobile geologist, the rover is equipped with a set of scientific instruments designed to help you search signs of past life. Perseverance is also packing 43 sample tubes that it will use to collect pieces of Mars that a later mission will retrieve and send to Earth. Over the course of their mission, the intrepid explorer will collect at least 20 samples, and preferably between 30 and 35, mission team members said.
The Perseverance mission, a $ 2.7 billion project known as Mars 2020, is just the first leg of a multi-mission relay that will send the first samples back from another planet. NASA is partnering with the European Space Agency to return the samples to Earth, potentially already in 2031.
But before that can happen, perseverance must be launched. The rover was stacked on top of its rocket trip on July 7 and has spent the intervening weeks installing its power source and preparing for launch. To power the next-generation rover, NASA relies on a tried and true method: nuclear power.
Perseverance runs on the same energy system that NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is based on – a plutonium-powered device known as Multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The generator takes heat from nuclear decay and converts it into electrical energy that the rover can use to power its systems. The long-lasting power source will be able to keep the rover warm and running for at least 14 years, beyond the end of its planned mission.
Related: The search for life on Mars (a photo timeline)
In addition to caching samples, the rover will destroy rocks and take many photos on its journey. As the rover searches for signs of life, it will also conduct a series of technology demonstrations that will be crucial for future missions not only to Mars but to other destinations in the solar system.
One such demonstration is the Mars Oxygen ISRU experiment, or MOXIE for short. This piece of hardware will take carbon dioxide out of the thin Martian atmosphere and convert it into breathable oxygen. As NASA seeks to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, it needs to discover how future astronauts will be able to breathe without having to transport their own oxygen supply with them.
“This is a critical step on our journey to send humans to Mars,” Zena Cardman, one of NASA’s newest astronauts, told Space.com. “We want to make sure we do it right, and it’s easier to do it with robots before lives are at stake.”
“This is an exciting time and a crucial piece of technology.”
Cardman, who is also a trained biologist, has a unique perspective on the upcoming release. When asked if she was more excited about the potential to find life on Mars or to try future technologies that she herself could one day trust, she said to Space.com: “As a biologist, I can think of few deeper questions than, Are we alone? It makes my spine shiver with emotion at the thought of that. “
Cardman explained that he is sometimes asked if he believes that the golden age of space exploration (i.e. the Apollo era) was lost, but he believes that we are now living in the golden age.
“I think this is the most exciting time in space exploration,” he said. “The fact that we are sending a rover to Mars as we talk about sending humans to the moon it’s amazing. ”
The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars plan, an exploration program that aims to return a man and a woman to the moon by 2024. That mission and others at NASA Artemis Program of lunar exploration, it pretends to be a springboard for eventual manned missions to Mars.
When asked if he would jump at the opportunity to go to Mars, Cardman replied, “Yes!” She said that although NASA does not yet know which astronauts it will send to the moon, it would certainly be voluntary.
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