Perseverance Rover: Landing on the RED Planet

Hello everyone,

 

            We will be taking an important step towards the advancement of humankind and a step nearer to the mystery of our origin soon. The perseverance rover of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) will land on the Martian surface on February 18, 2021. I will talk about some interesting facts regarding perseverance rover.

 

Courtesy: https://mars.nasa.gov/ and NASA

            NASA had launched the perseverance rover on 30 July 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Since then, astrophiles and space enthusiasts are excited about landing on Mars and unveiling the mysteries hidden under the Martian soil!!!

 

What is Perseverance Rover?

            Perseverance is a rover of the mission Mars 2020 designed for landing on the Martian surface. It is a car-sized rover about 3 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall. It weighs about 1,025 kilograms (2,260 pounds). It is designed as a robotic scientist having brain (computers for processing), ears and eyes (camera and instrument for surround environment detection), legs (wheels for mobility), hands (to collect the samples), communications (antennas), heaters for temperature control and body (to protect all the parts).

Mission: Mars 2020

Rover: Perseverance

Launching Vehicle: Atlas V-541

Launch Date: 30 July 2020

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Landing Date: 18 February 2021

Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars

Mission duration: 1 Mars year (687 Earth days)

Range: 5-20 kilometers from its landing site.

 

           Courtesy: https://mars.nasa.gov/ and NASA

           

            The Perseverance rover launched on 30 July 2020 by the Atlas V-541 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. For the interplanetary flights, the Atlas V is one of the largest rocket which also launched Curiosity and Insight.

How the rover named as Perseverance!!!

            On August 28, 2019– A contest announced by NASA began in which the entries were invited to ‘NAME THE ROVER.’ NASA received 28,000 essays for the contest from K-12 students of every state of the U.S.  Nearly 4,700 judges were appointed who narrowed down the entries to 9 finalists. Then the voting was carried out to choose the public’s favorite name for the rover of Mars 2020 mission. Over 7,70,000 votes were submitted in that voting. A boy named Alexander Mather won the contest and his suggested name ‘PERSEVERANCE’ was considered as the name of the rover of Mars 2020 mission.

Courtesy: https://mars.nasa.gov/ and NASA

            Alexander Mather (above image) was only interested in video games and the gaming world before he visited a Space Camp in Alabama. He glanced at the Saturn V rocket (that launched Apollo astronauts to the moon) and he became a space enthusiast. Then he visited the website of NASA regularly and came across this contest. He wanted to contribute something so he sent an entry to this contest. His entry consisting of the name Perseverance rover won the contest and was invited with his family at the launch event of the Perseverance rover at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

 

According to Oxford the meaning of the word perseverance is:

The quality of continuing to try to 

achieve a particular aim despite difficulties.

 

The landing of Perseverance Rover

            The perseverance rover will touchdown at 2.00 a.m. IST (12.30 p.m. PST). The perseverance rover will first penetrate through a thin Martian surface at the speed of 20,000 km/h. A parachute and thrusters will slow down the speed of the perseverance rover at 3 km/h. A sky crane will help perseverance rover with three cords to land softly on the Martian surface.

Watch the LIVE Landing Broadcast on 18 Feb. 2021 (2.00 a.m.): Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars

Courtesy: https://mars.nasa.gov/ and NASA

Jezero Crater, Mars

            The craters are deep bowl-shaped cavity on the ground. Jezero is a 45 km wide crater at the north of the Martian equator. Scientists believe that Jezero might contain signs of ancient life or microbial life because once it contained water inside it.

 

            If there was life in our Solar System other than Earth, it might be on Jezero crater. Mars is the only planet besides Earth that can behold life because of the presence inside the habitable zone. The perseverance rover will collect rock and soil samples for the Earth return mission. On Earth, scientists, and researchers will analyze the samples to find out the answer to the question: Was there any ancient life on Mars?

 

The Perseverance has four scientific objectives to achieve:

Habitability Search: The perseverance rover will search for the signs that might support the microbial life.

 

Biosignatures: It will look for the signs of possible past life on Mars especially on the rocks that are known to preserve life over a long time.

 

Sample Collection: The perseverance rover will collect rock and soil samples and store them from the Martian surface. 

 

Human Preparation: The perseverance will test the production of oxygen from the Martian environment. It will test the efficiency to produce oxygen from Martian CO2.

Conclusion: The Perseverance will land on the Martian surface on 18th Feb. 2021. It will be a great leap in the history of mankind the same as mankind had a half-century ago. Somewhere I feel that despite the diplomatic relations of each country all should work together in this area. The space programs and space agencies of particular countries should be unaffected from diplomacy. But then, HOW CAN WE BE CALLED AS HUMANS.

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