Launched in July, the spacecraft carries the "Perseverance" rover that will explore the planet for future missions. • It is an SUV that includes advanced technological equipment.
The race for Mars continues:
After the UAE spacecraft and a Chinese spacecraft successfully entered orbit Mars last week, tonight (Thursday) at 22:50 (Israel time) the US space agency NASA spacecraft is expected to land the Rover Perseverance ("Perseverance"). On the Red Star.
From NASA's YouTube channel
This is another step on the way to manned missions to Mars, and another step in the search for signs of life on Mars.
The main task is to look for signs of life past and present and prepare samples which will later be sent back to Earth.
In addition, important technological demonstrations will be carried out for future missions - a device demonstrating oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere will be activated, and a robotic helicopter will be operated for the first time on the neighboring planet.
On July 30, 2020, the spacecraft carrying the Rover on its way to Mars was successfully launched - a robotic spacecraft that will explore the neighboring star as part of NASA's March 2020 program. While the UAE and China spacecraft are in orbit around the star, NASA's spacecraft is expected to be The first of the three spacecraft to land on the planet itself - followed by China's spacecraft.
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Also in the technological aspect, NASA's spacecraft carries sophisticated technological equipment. The "Perseverance" Rover is the Fifth Rover of the Space Agency, it is significantly larger than its predecessors, its mobility and the equipment it carries are much more advanced.
The director of DMARS, the Center for Space Imaging in Israel, Dr. Hillel Rubinstein, commented on the expected landing and said that NASA's Rover 'Perseverance' is the most advanced vehicle sent to Mars to date.
He will land in the Djero crater where there is a chance to find signs of life, perform important technological demonstrations as a step towards future manned missions, and prepare samples that will later be launched back to Earth. "
To date, 4 rifles and 4 more stationary missions have landed and operated successfully on Mars.
There have been quite a few more failed attempts.
In 2018 it was the last time NASA landed a spacecraft on the planet with the InSight mission, where the goal was to drill into the ground and measure earthquakes on the neighboring planet.
"The race to Mars is at its peak this week, in light of an unusual window of opportunity that happens once every two years, where Earth and Mars are closest to each other and then the launch time is the shortest about seven months," said Avi Belbesgerger, director of the Israel Space Agency.
'So this week we see 3 international missions reaching Mars: the Emirates, the Chinese and the Americans.
The research that is being done now, helps us to understand how much Mars is similar to Earth and from this we can, we hope, learn about the evolution of life on Earth.
In addition, these studies are a preparation for the long-term manned missions and the establishment of research colonies on Mars, "added Belbesgerger.
"Israel is interested in joining NASA's Artemis program, which will also reach Mars in the next phase, the manned flight phase, using the Israeli space suit developed by Stamard, which is currently being tested by NASA.
The suit was developed for radiation protection that could damage the bodies of astronauts during long space travel. "
Conditions on Mars are not simple and very cold, with the temperature in the substrate being minus 60 degrees Celsius, with an extreme change between day and night due to the sparse atmosphere - about 200 times thinner than on Earth.
Most of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide.
There is almost no magnetic field and therefore also almost no protection from radiation on the surface of the red star.
Gravity is weaker - about 38% percent than on Earth.
A year on Mars is about 687 days on Earth.
The star, on the other hand, is still the most suitable place for a human colony to exist outside the Earth - and it has ice-shaped water or very salt water, in the past there were rivers and oceans on it.