Next destination, Mars! Look at the space missions that will take off this boreal summer

Perseverance, NASA's new rover for Mars 1:57

(CNN) –– It seems that Mars is a popular destination these days, but there is an explanation behind it: the possibility of flying to the red planet only occurs every 26 months.

There are four missions planned to take off this boreal summer, including three rovers from multiple space agencies.

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Two of them - the Chinese Tianwen-1, which carries a rover, and the UAE's Hope probe, took off last week and are now on their way to Mars. NASA's Perseverance rover will be next on the journey, scheduled to launch on July 30. And Europe's first planetary rover will have to wait a little longer to begin its journey to Mars.

The European Space Agency and Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, have delayed the launch of their ExoMars rover, in part because of concerns about the coronavirus, they announced in March. The entities cited issues regarding the availability of spacecraft components and the covid-19 as reasons for the delay.

Additional tests will ensure that the components of the spacecraft are complete and prepared. The rover was scheduled to launch in July 2020. Now, the agency's joint project teams await a new launch window between August and October 2022.

Although the pandemic has posed challenges and caused delays on other missions, teams working on projects slated to land on Mars were motivated to have everything ready for the planned launch date.

In the case of teams from the Perseverance rover, which includes more than 1,000 people, the pandemic came at a crucial moment.

"For a mission like this to be successful, it takes a lot of perseverance and a lot of hard work and brilliance at the best of times," said Michael Watkins, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). ), during a conversation organized by the Space Foundation last week. "And I don't think any of us anticipated this covid-19 pandemic during the busiest time of the mission," he added.

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This time refers to when mission teams worked three different shifts a day, 24/7, to finish final assembly, perform final flight hardware tests and make sure the mission was ready, Watkins said.

Although Perseverance teams had to start working remotely and complete the mission preparations from home, there were still team members who had to be in direct contact with the hardware. They wore masks and maintained social distance.

"I really can't say enough about how amazing this team was," said Watkins. “They actually got down to business and completed this on time and we are ready to go. NASA really came together as a family and it has really been a surprisingly smooth experience given all the problems with covid-19, ”he detailed.

When the planets align

The Earth is the third closest planet to the Sun, while Mars is the fourth, which affects the orbits of the planets around our star, as well as the number of days equivalent to one year on each planet.

For example, Earth moves at a fairly rapid rate of 107,826 km / h while orbiting the Sun, creating our 365-day orbit. But Mars is further away, so it is slower and takes longer. A year on Mars equals about 687 Earth days.

Planets also don't move in perfect circular paths around the Sun. Instead, they have elliptical, or more oval, orbits. And the orbit of Mars is carried by the gigantic gas giant Jupiter, which can also change the shape of the orbit.

Mars and Earth are also slightly tilted in their orbits.

However, every 26 months, Earth and Mars have a good alignment on the same side of the Sun and are closer than usual. The launches towards Mars point to this moment because any spacecraft leaving Earth will experience a shorter trip, which means less resources are needed, such as fuel.

Other factors, such as the launch vehicle's lifting capacity, the spacecraft's mass, and the landing time also help determine the launch window.

This biennial alignment provides a small window of opportunity. For Perseverance, the launch space is between July 30 and August 15.

Although NASA has successfully landed on Mars multiple times, including four spacecraft, it is a challenge that requires communication to be possible during landing. That's for teams to understand what happens during descent and landing.

Programming a specific launch window ensures that the spacecraft will land when NASA orbiters on Mars pass over the landing site, providing radio transmissions from the spacecraft.

NASA will attempt the first launch of Perseverance at 7:50 am Miami time on July 30, with launch opportunities every five minutes over a two-hour period.

If the rover launches during the two-week window between July 30 and August 15, it will land on Mars on February 18, 2021. The Chinese and UAE missions will also land on the planet in February 2021.

While Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in October, just 61.1 million km from us, the longest distance between the two planets can reach up to 400 million km, according to NASA.

If the rover does not launch within the two-week period, it will be stored and teams will have to wait two more years for another opportunity.

Storage of the spacecraft and other delay factors would cost NASA $ 500 million and impact the agency's Mars Exploration Program long-term goals, according to administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"I hope that people see this mission and are inspired that we can fight and achieve goals even in the midst of difficult times," he said during a press conference in June.

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