The six-wheeled robot is about the size of an SUV (AFP)
Washington:
NASA on Monday gave its latest Mars Perseverance rover the green light to launch it later this week as part of a mission to look for signs of ancient microbial life.
“The launch readiness review is complete, and we are indeed ready for launch,” said administrator Jim Bridenstine.
“We are currently living in extraordinary times with the coronavirus pandemic, and yet we have actually persevered and we have protected this mission because it is so important.”
The launch will take place Thursday at 7:50 a.m. (11:50 a.m. GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.
Live coverage will take place on YouTube and social media platforms.
After a seven-month trip, Perseverance is expected to land at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021.
The six-wheeled robot, which is roughly the size of an SUV and weighs 2,300 pounds (1,040 kilograms), is NASA’s fifth Mars rover and its most advanced to date.
It is equipped with a small helicopter called Ingenuity that will attempt to fly – a first on another planet – as well as a robotic arm, a set of cameras, and a pair of microphones.
To search for evidence of ancient fossilized bacteria, it will use two lasers and an x-ray capable of chemical analyzes.
It will also collect rock and soil samples for a future mission that will bring them back to Earth for further study.
This is crucial in determining whether the organic compounds he obtained are really the result of living processes.
Perseverance will build on previous orbital and terrestrial missions, which established that the cold, dry Mars we see today was much hotter and wetter billions of years ago.
These environments lasted long enough to eventually support the development of microbial life.
With Thursday’s launch, the United States will become the third country to embark on a mission to the Red Planet this month.
China launched a Mars rover named Tianwen-1 (“Questions to Heaven”) last week.
If China’s mission is successful, it will only become the second nation after the United States to have a rover on another planet – despite having already placed two rovers on the moon.
The United Arab Emirates also launched an orbital probe from Japan earlier this month, called “Al-Amal” (Hope), the Arab world‘s first mission to Mars.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
