07/30/2020 - 6:05
- Clarín.com
- Society
Everything is ready for the launch of the Mars 2020 mission to Mars , in which NASA will take the new space rover known as Perseverance to the Red Planet , in search of remains of extraterrestrial life .
The space agency will try to discover if there ever was life , either in the form of ancient fossils or in underground deposits. To widen the field of view, Ingenuity , the first helicopter adapted to fly off Earth , will also be deployed .
After a double cancellation this Thursday, the mission will depart on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The mission will last at least a year on Mars , or what is the same 687 Earth days, during which the vehicle will travel the planet's surface after landing on the Jezero crater.
There it will search for traces of microbial life and try to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere.
Maintaining the quadrangular shape of the previous rover, the vehicle is 3 meters long and 2.7 meters wide. It weighs 1,043 kilos (2,300 pounds).
In addition, for the first time an aircraft will fly over the air from Mars thanks to the "Ingenuity" helicopter, which will travel to the planet coupled to the rover and will perform different flight tests in a gravity that is two thirds less than that of Earth.
However, the great milestone of the mission will be the collection of samples that will return to Earth in 2026 to be studied in depth. This will require a new launch from the Martian surface.
Special mission in times of coronavirus
Unlike what usually happens with other launches from Cape Canaveral, NASA will keep personnel to take off under a minimum and will not allow the public to visit the facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to plague Florida, where this Wednesday 217 deaths have been reported in 24 hours.
NASA had to change its way of working after several workers tested positive for the new coronavirus, but they are confident that the day will come when the general public can once again enjoy a takeoff like this from the facilities in Cape Canaveral.
With the launch of Perseverance, NASA takes the first step in exploring Mars with humans , one of the space agency's big goals, which also seeks to create permanent settlements on both the Moon and the red planet.
With information from EFE
