As part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Mars Exploration Program, staffers are getting ready to launch the Perseverance rover into space this summer, during a specific timeframe that will maximize the machine's ability to land on Mars.
That launch window is set to be between July 20 and August 11 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The projected landing date is February 18, 2021, making the mission last at least one Mars year, which is about 687 days on planet Earth.
The rover's objectives support the program's intent to explore and understand Mars in an effort to, one day, send humans there. Those objectives include caching samples, testing oxygen production, looking for habitability and signs of past life.
But Perseverance isn't the first rover to take residence on the Red Planet. Since 2011, NASA's Curiosity has been snapping photos (over 600,000!) and collecting data while roaming the planet (it has traveled almost 14 miles!).
According to NASA's website, the agency hopes for the mission to advance the cause by "not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself." For what it's worth, we absolutely can't wait to see what Perseverance comes back with.
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