Mars 2020 is a NASA mission that includes the rover Perseverance,the now-retired small robotic helicopter Ingenuity,and associated delivery systems,as part of the Mars Exploration Program. Mars 2020 was launched on an Atlas V rocket at 11:50:01 UTC on July 30,2020,[4] and landed in the Martian crater Jezero on February 18,2021,with confirmation received at 20:55 UTC.[5] On March 5,2021,NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing.[6] As of 13December2024,Perseverance has been on Mars for 1356sols (1394total days;3years,299days).[7][8][9][10][11]Ingenuity operated on Mars for 1042sols (1071total days;2years,341days) before sustaining serious damage to its rotor blades,possibly all four,causing NASA to retire the craft on January 25,2024.[12][13]
Perseverance is investigating an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars for its surface geological processes and history,and assessing its past habitability,the possibility of past life on Mars,and the potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials.[14][15] It will cache sample containers along its route for retrieval by a potential future Mars sample-return mission.[15][16][17] The Mars 2020 mission was announced by NASA in December 2012 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Perseverance's design is derived from the rover Curiosity,and it uses many components already fabricated and tested in addition to new scientific instruments and a core drill.[18] The rover also employs nineteen cameras and two microphones,[19] allowing for the audio recording of the Martian environment. On April 30,2021,Perseverance became the first spacecraft to hear and record another spacecraft,the Ingenuity helicopter,on another planet.
The launch of Mars 2020 was the third of three space missions sent toward Mars during the July 2020 Mars launch window,with missions also launched by the national space agencies of the United Arab Emirates (the Emirates Mars Mission with the orbiter Hope on July 19,2020) and China (the Tianwen-1 mission on July 23,2020,with an orbiter,deployable and remote cameras,lander,and Zhurong rover).
Conception
The Mars 2020 mission was announced by NASA on December 4,2012,at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.[20] The selection of Mars as the target of NASA's flagship mission elicited surprise from some members of the scientific community. Some criticized NASA for continuing to focus on Mars exploration instead of other Solar System destinations in constrained budget times.[21][22] Support came from California U.S. Representative Adam Schiff,who said he was interested in the possibility of advancing the launch date,which would enable a larger payload.[20] Science educator Bill Nye endorsed the Mars sample-return role,saying this would be "extraordinarily fantastic and world-changing and worthy."[23]
Objectives
Sample tubes being loaded into the Perseverance rover
The mission is aimed at seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past,and also at searching for evidence—or biosignatures—of past microbial life,and water. The mission was launched July 30,2020,on an Atlas V-541,[20] and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the mission. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.[24][25][26][16] The Science Definition Team proposed that the rover collect and package as many as 31 samples of rock cores and surface soil for a later mission to bring back for definitive analysis on Earth.[27] In 2015,they expanded the concept,planning to collect even more samples and distribute the tubes in small piles or caches across the surface of Mars.[28]
In September 2013,NASA launched an Announcement of Opportunity for researchers to propose and develop the instruments needed,including the Sample Caching System.[29][30] The science instruments for the mission were selected in July 2014 after an open competition based on the scientific objectives set one year earlier.[31][32] The science conducted by the rover's instruments will provide the context needed for detailed analyses of the returned samples.[33] The chairman of the Science Definition Team stated that NASA does not presume that life ever existed on Mars,but given the recent Curiosity rover findings,past Martian life seems possible.[33]
The Perseverance rover will explore a site likely to have been habitable. It will seek signs of past life,set aside a returnable cache with the most compelling rock core and soil samples,and demonstrate the technology needed for the future human and robotic exploration of Mars. A key mission requirement is that it must help prepare NASA for its long-term Mars sample-return mission and crewed mission efforts.[15][16][17] The rover will make measurements and technology demonstrations to help designers of a future human expedition understand any hazards posed by Martian dust,and will test technology to produce a small amount of pure oxygen (O2) from Martian atmosphericcarbon dioxide (CO2).[34]
Improved precision landing technology that enhances the scientific value of robotic missions also will be critical for eventual human exploration on the surface.[35] Based on input from the Science Definition Team, NASA defined the final objectives for the 2020 rover. Those became the basis for soliciting proposals to provide instruments for the rover's science payload in the spring of 2014.[34] The mission will also attempt to identify subsurface water, improve landing techniques, and characterize weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.[36]
Campaign plans for 2021–2022The heat shield (left) and back shell (right) together make up the aeroshell for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The diameter of each part is about 15 feet (4.5 metres). The rover and its descent stage were enclosed and shielded by the aeroshell during their deep space voyage to Mars and upon entry into the Martian atmosphere, which generated intense heat. The aeroshell was made by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado, where the photo was taken.
A key mission requirement for this rover is that it must help prepare NASA for its Mars sample-return mission (MSR) campaign,[37][38][39] which is needed before any crewed mission takes place.[15][16][17] Such effort would require three additional vehicles: an orbiter, a fetch rover, and a two-stage, solid-fueled Mars ascent vehicle (MAV).[40][41] Between 20 and 30 drilled samples will be collected and cached inside small tubes by the Perseverance rover,[42] and will be left on the surface of Mars for possible later retrieval by NASA in collaboration with ESA.[39][42] A "fetch rover" would retrieve the sample caches and deliver them to a two-stage, solid-fueled Mars ascent vehicle (MAV). In July 2018, NASA contracted Airbus to produce a "fetch rover" concept study.[43] The MAV would launch from Mars and enter a 500km orbit and rendezvous with the Next Mars Orbiter or Earth Return Orbiter.[39] The sample container would be transferred to an Earth entry vehicle (EEV) which would bring it to Earth, enter the atmosphere under a parachute and hard-land for retrieval and analyses in specially designed safe laboratories.[38][39]
In the first science campaign Perseverance performs an arching drive southward from its landing site to the Séítah unit to perform a "toe dip" into the unit to collect remote-sensing measurements of geologic targets. After that she will return to the Crater Floor Fractured Rough to collect the first core sample there. Passing by the Octavia B. Butler landing site concludes the first science campaign.
The second campaign shall start with several months of travel towards the "Three Forks" where Perseverance can access geologic locations at the base of the ancient delta of Neretva river, as well as ascend the delta by driving up a valley wall to the northwest.[44]
Spacecraft
Cruise stage and EDLS
Animation of Mars 2020's trajectory from 30 July 2020 to 20 February 2021
Mars 2020
Sun
Earth
Mars
The three major components of the Mars 2020 spacecraft are the 539kg (1,188lb)[45] cruise stage for travel between Earth and Mars; the Entry, Descent, and Landing System (EDLS) that includes the 575kg (1,268lb)[45]aeroshell descent vehicle + 440kg (970lb) heat shield; and the 1,070kg (2,360lb) (fueled mass)[45]descent stage needed to deliver Perseverance and Ingenuity safely to the Martian surface. The Descent Stage carries 400kg (880lb) landing propellant for the final soft landing burn after being slowed down by a 21.5m (71ft)-wide, 81kg (179lb) parachute.[45] The 1,025kg (2,260lb)[45] rover is based on the design of Curiosity.[20] While there are differences in scientific instruments and the engineering required to support them, the entire landing system (including the descent stage and heat shield) and rover chassis could essentially be recreated without any additional engineering or research. This reduces overall technical risk for the mission, while saving funds and time on development.[46]
One of the upgrades is a guidance and control technique called "Terrain Relative Navigation" (TRN) to fine-tune steering in the final moments of landing.[47][48] This system allowed for a landing inside 7.7km ×6.6km (4.8mi ×4.1mi)[49] wide ellipse with a positioning error within 40m (130ft) and avoided obstacles.[50] This is a marked improvement from the Mars Science Laboratory mission that had an elliptical area of 7 by 20km (4.3 by 12.4mi).[51] In October 2016, NASA reported using the Xombie rocket to test the Lander Vision System (LVS), as part of the Autonomous Descent and Ascent Powered-flight Testbed (ADAPT) experimental technologies, for the Mars 2020 mission landing, meant to increase the landing accuracy and avoid obstacle hazards.[52][53]
The cruise stage and EDLS carried both spacecraft to Mars.
Perseverance was designed with help from Curiosity's engineering team, as both are quite similar and share common hardware.[20][54] Engineers redesigned Perseverance's wheels to be more robust than Curiosity's, which, after kilometres of driving on the Martian surface, have shown progressed deterioration.[55]Perseverance will have thicker, more durable aluminium wheels, with reduced width and a greater diameter, 52.5cm (20.7in), than Curiosity's50cm (20in) wheels.[56][57] The aluminium wheels are covered with cleats for traction and curved titanium spokes for springy support.[58] The combination of the larger instrument suite, new Sampling and Caching System, and modified wheels makes Perseverance 14 percent heavier than Curiosity, at 1,025kg (2,260lb) and 899kg (1,982lb), respectively.[57] The rover will include a five-jointed robotic arm measuring 2.1m (6ft 11in) long. The arm will be used in combination with a turret to analyze geologic samples from the Martian surface.[59]
A Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), left over as a backup part for Curiosity during its construction, was integrated onto the rover to supply electrical power.[20][60] The generator has a mass of 45kg (99lb) and contains 4.8kg (11lb) of plutonium dioxide as the source of steady supply of heat that is converted to electricity.[61] The electrical power generated is approximately 110 watts at launch with little decrease over the mission time.[61]
Two lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are included to meet peak demands of rover activities when the demand temporarily exceeds the MMRTG's steady electrical output levels. The MMRTG offers a 14-year operational lifetime, and it was provided to NASA by the United States Department of Energy.[61] Unlike solar panels, the MMRTG does not rely on the presence of the Sun for power, providing engineers with significant flexibility in operating the rover's instruments even at night and during dust storms, and through the winter season.[61]
Each Mars mission contributes to an ongoing innovation chain. Each draws on prior operations or tested technologies and contributes uniquely to upcoming missions. By using this strategy, NASA is able to advance the frontiers of what is currently feasible while still depending on earlier advancements.[citation needed]
The Curiosity rover, which touched down on Mars in 2012, is directly responsible for a large portion of Perseverance's rover design, including its entry, descent, and landing mechanism. With Perseverance, new technological innovations will be demonstrated, and entry, descent, and landing capabilities will be improved. These advancements will help open the door for future robotic and human missions to the Moon and Mars.[citation needed]
Ingenuity is a defunct robotic coaxial helicopter that made the first aircraft flights on another planet.[64]
It was deployed from the underside of Perseverance and uses autonomous control guided by flight plan instructions uploaded from mission control.[65][64]
After each landing, it transmits photographs and other data to Perseverance, which relays the information to Earth. NASA will build on the helicopter's design for future Mars missions.[66] The helicopter flew 72 times until its end of mission on January 25, 2024.[67] Its internal systems have been functioning well despite the accident, and Ingenuity now functions as a weather station on its last landing site.[68]
The Jezero craterdelta on Mars, where the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landed. Clays are visible as green in this false colorCRISM / CTX image.Jezero Crater Formation by asteroid impact
The mission is centered around exploring Jezero crater, which scientists speculate was a 250m (820ft) deep lake about 3.9 billion to 3.5 billion years ago.[69] Jezero today features a prominent river delta where water flowing through it deposited much sediment over the eons, which is "extremely good at preserving biosignatures".[69][70] The sediments in the delta likely include carbonates and hydrated silica, known to preserve microscopic fossils on Earth for billions of years.[71] Prior to the selection of Jezero, eight proposed landing sites for the mission were under consideration by September 2015; Columbia Hills in Gusev crater, Eberswalde crater, Holden crater, Jezero crater,[72][73]Mawrth Vallis, Northeastern Syrtis Major Planum, Nili Fossae, and Southwestern Melas Chasma.[74]
A workshop was held on February 8–10, 2017, in Pasadena, California, to discuss these sites, with the goal of narrowing down the list to three sites for further consideration.[75] The three sites chosen were Jezero crater, Northeastern Syrtis Major Planum, and Columbia Hills.[76] Jezero crater was ultimately selected as the landing site in November 2018.[69] The "fetch rover" for returning the samples is expected to launch in 2026. The landing and surface operations of the "fetch rover" would take place early in 2029. The earliest return to Earth is envisaged for 2031.[77]
The launch window, when the positions of Earth and Mars were optimal for traveling to Mars, opened on July 17, 2020, and lasted through August 15, 2020.[78] The rocket was launched on July 30, 2020, at 11:50 UTC, and the rover landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, at 20:55 UTC, with a planned surface mission of at least one Mars year (668 sols or 687 Earth days).[79][80][81] Two other missions to Mars were launch in this window: the United Arab Emirates Space Agency launched its Emirates Mars Mission with the Hope orbiter on July 20, 2020, which arrived in Mars orbit on February 8, 2021, and China National Space Administration launched Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020, arriving in orbit on February 10, 2021, and successfully soft landed with the Zhurong rover on May 14, 2021.[82]
NASA announced that all of the trajectory correction maneuvers (TCM) were a success. The spacecraft fired thrusters to adjust its course toward Mars, shifting the probe's initial post-launch aim point onto the Red Planet.[83]
Entry, descent, and landing (EDL)
Diagram of the various stages of the EDL process for PerseveranceThe rover photographed from the sky crane during descent
Prior to landing, the Science Team from an earlier NASA lander, InSight, announced that they would attempt to detect the entry, descent and landing (EDL) sequence of the Mars 2020 mission using InSight's seismometers. Despite being more than 3,400km (2,100mi) away from the Mars landing site, the team indicated that there was a possibility that InSight's instruments would be sensitive enough to detect the hypersonic impact of Mars 2020's cruise mass balance devices with the Martian surface.[84][85]
The rover's landing was planned similar to the Mars Science Laboratory used to deploy Curiosity on Mars in 2012. The craft from Earth was a carbon fiber capsule that protected the rover and other equipment from heat during entry into the Mars atmosphere and initial guidance towards the planned landing site. Once through, the craft jettisoned the lower heat shield and deployed a parachute from the backshell to slow the descent to a controlled speed. With the craft moving under 320km/h (200mph) and about 1.9km (1.2mi) from the surface, the rover and sky crane assembly detached from the backshell, and rockets on the sky crane controlled the remaining descent to the planet. As the sky crane moved closer to the surface, it lowered Perseverance via cables until it confirmed touchdown, detached the cables, and flew a distance away to avoid damaging the rover.[86]
Perseverance recording of the ambient noise on Mars, modified to remove the background sounds of the rover
Perseverance successfully landed on the surface of Mars with help of the sky crane on February 18, 2021, at 20:55 UTC, to begin its science phase, and began sending images back to Earth.[87]Ingenuity reported back to NASA via the communications systems on Perseverance the following day, confirming its status. The helicopter was not expected to be deployed for at least 60 days into the mission.[88] NASA also confirmed that the on-board microphone on Perseverance had survived entry, descent and landing (EDL), along with other high-end visual recording devices, and released the first audio recorded on the surface of Mars shortly after landing,[89] capturing the sound of a Martian breeze[90] as well as a hum from the rover itself. On May 7, 2021, NASA confirmed that Perseverance managed to record both audio and video from Ingenuity's fourth flight which took place on April 30, 2021.[91]
April 20, 2021 – Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) generated 5.37g (0.189oz) of oxygen gas from carbon dioxide on its first test on Mars.
June 1, 2021 – Perseverance begins its first science campaign.
June 8, 2021 – Seventh flight of Ingenuity.
June 21, 2021 – Eighth flight of Ingenuity. The "watchdog issue", a recurring issue which occasionally prevented Ingenuity from taking flight, is fixed.
July 5, 2021 – Ninth flight of Ingenuity. This flight is the first to explore areas only an aerial vehicle can, by taking a shortcut over the Séítah unit. The sandy ripples of the Séítah unit would prove too difficult for Perseverance to travel through directly.
August 6, 2021 – Perseverance acquired its first sample from the ancient lakebed.[94]
May 3, 2022 – After 27 flights of Ingenuity, the rover lost contact with the helicopter. By suspending scientific operations on the rover to listen for signals from the helicopter, NASA was able to regain contact and resume flights.
January 25, 2024 – NASA announces end of mission for Ingenuity. Engineers determined that the helicopter sustained damage after a communications blackout with Perseverance just before the landing of flight 72. Photos taken by Ingenuity showed that its rotor blades, possibly all four, were damaged, resulting in the decision not to fly again.[67][95][13] The helicopter had been struggling to fly for several missions before this, due to deterioration of onboard navigation systems.[96] The Ingenuity Team have named the final landing spot and resting place of Ingenuity in AirfieldChi (χ) as "Valinor Hills Station", after the fictional location in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels.[97]
July 25, 2024 - NASA's Perseverance rover discovered "leopard spots" on a reddish rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls" in Mars' Jezero Crater, that has some indications it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago, but further research is needed.[98][99]
Gallery
Perseverance rover's sampling bits
The pointed one with two windows on the left is the regolith drill
the two shorter ones on the right are abrasion tools
the others in the center are rock drills
Mapping Perseverance's samples collected to date (The 10 duplicate samples to be left behind at Three Forks Sample Depot are framed in green colour.) In support of the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return, rock, regolith (Martian soil), and atmosphere samples are being cached by Perseverance. As of October 2023, 27 out of 43 sample tubes have been filled,[100] including 8 igneous rock samples, 12 sedimentary rock sample tubes, a Silica-cementedcarbonate rock sample tube,[101] two regolith sample tubes, an atmosphere sample tube,[102] and three witness tubes.[103] Before launch, 5 of the 43 tubes were designated "witness tubes" and filled with materials that would capture particulates in the ambient environment of Mars. Out of 43 tubes, 3 witness sample tubes will not be returned to Earth and will remain on rover as the sample canister will only have 30 tube slots. Further, 10 of the 43 tubes are left as backups at the Three Forks Sample Depot.[104]
Ingenuity after its fifth flight landing on Airfield B (7 May 2021)
Entry-descent-landing debris
Ingenuity photographed the spacecraft backshell and parachute (April 19).[105]
Perseverance photographed the spacecraft backshell and parachute (April 14).
Ingenuity photographed an apparent EDL debris (April 3).
Perseverance photographed a thermal blanket from the skycrane 2km (1.2mi) away from its crash site.
Perseverance Rover instruments
Graph of MOXIE's first martian oxygen production test, 20 April 2021
Valinor Hills in the AirfieldChi (χ), Mars, Ingenuity's final airfield (see SQUARE near off-center right of image) as viewed by the Perseverance rover on February 4, 2024.
Cost
NASA plans to expend roughly US$2.8 billion on the Mars 2020 mission over 10 years: almost $2.2 billion on the development of the Perseverance rover, $80 million on the Ingenuity helicopter, $243 million for launch services, and $296 million for 2.5 years of mission operations.[37][106] Adjusted for inflation, Mars 2020 is the sixth-most expensive robotic planetary mission made by NASA and is cheaper than its predecessor, the Curiosity rover.[107] As well as using spare hardware, Perseverance also used designs from Curiosity's mission without needing to redesign them, which helped save "probably tens of millions, if not 100 million dollars" according to Mars 2020 Deputy Chief Engineer Keith Comeaux.[108]
Public outreach
To raise public awareness of the Mars 2020 mission, NASA undertook a "Send Your Name To Mars" campaign, through which people could send their names to Mars on a microchip stored aboard Perseverance. After registering their names, participants received a digital ticket with details of the mission's launch and destination. There were 10,932,295 names submitted during the registration period.[109] In addition, NASA announced in June 2019 that a student naming contest for the rover would be held in the fall of 2019, with voting on nine finalist names held in January 2020.[110]Perseverance was announced to be the winning name on March 5, 2020.[111][112]
"Send Your Name" placard attached to Perseverance
Sample souvenir boarding pass for those who registered their names to be flown aboard the Perseverance rover
NASA Eventbrite Virtual Guest Program Post flight mission patch given to Eventbrite subscribers
In May 2020, NASA attached a small aluminum plate to Perseverance to commemorate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pay "tribute to the perseverance of healthcare workers around the world". The COVID-19 Perseverance Plate features planet Earth above the Rod of Asclepius, with a line showing the trajectory of the Mars 2020 spacecraft departing Earth.[113]
The supersonic parachute that helped decelerate Perseverance carried an Easter egg along with it.
On February 22, 2021, NASA released uninterrupted footage of the landing process of Mars 2020 from parachute deployment to touchdown in a livestream broadcast.[114] Upon release of this footage, engineers revealed that the rover's parachute contained a puzzle; Internet users had solved it within six hours. The parachute's pattern was based on binary code and translated to the motto of JPL (Dare Mighty Things) and the coordinates of its headquarters. Irregular patterns are frequently used on spacecraft parachutes to better determine the performance of specific parts of the parachute.[115]
A small piece of the wing covering from the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer is attached to a cable underneath Ingenuity's solar panel.[116]
NASA scientist Swati Mohan delivered the news of the successful landing.[117]
See also
ExoMars, European-Russian Mars exploration program
A Mars sample-return (MSR) mission is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth. Such a mission would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors.
A Mars landing is a landing of a spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Of multiple attempted Mars landings by robotic, uncrewed spacecraft, ten have had successful soft landings. There have also been studies for a possible human mission to Mars including a landing, but none have been attempted.
Jezero is a crater on Mars in the Syrtis Major quadrangle, about 45.0 km (28.0 mi) in diameter. Thought to have once been flooded with water, the crater contains a fan-delta deposit rich in clays. The lake in the crater was present when valley networks were forming on Mars. Besides having a delta, the crater shows point bars and inverted channels. From a study of the delta and channels, it was concluded that the lake inside the crater probably formed during a period in which there was continual surface runoff.
A Mars aircraft is a vehicle capable of sustaining powered flight in the atmosphere of Mars. So far, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity is the only aircraft ever to fly on Mars, completing 72 successful flights covering 17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 48 seconds of flight time. Ingenuity operated on Mars for 1042 sols, until it was retired following rotor blade damage.
Curiosity is a car-sized Mars rover exploring Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17:57 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey.
Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is an ultraviolet Raman spectrometer that uses fine-scale imaging and an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy, and detect organic compounds designed for the Perseverance rover as part of the Mars 2020 mission. It was constructed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with major subsystems being delivered from Malin Space Science Systems and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dragonfly is a planned NASA mission to send a robotic rotorcraft to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. It is planned to be launched in July 2028 and arrive in 2034. It would be the first aircraft on Titan and is intended to make the first powered and fully controlled atmospheric flight on any moon, with the intention of studying prebiotic chemistry and extraterrestrial habitability. It would then use its vertical takeoffs and landings (VTOL) capability to move between exploration sites.
Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, is an autonomous NASA helicopter that operated on Mars from 2021 to 2024 as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Ingenuity made its first flight on 19 April 2021, demonstrating that flight is possible in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars, and becoming the first aircraft to conduct a powered and controlled extra-terrestrial flight. It was designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in collaboration with AeroVironment, NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center with some components supplied by Lockheed Martin Space, Qualcomm, and SolAero.
Perseverance, is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission. It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on July 30, 2020, at 11:50 UTC. Confirmation that the rover successfully landed on Mars was received on February 18, 2021, at 20:55 UTC. As of 4 December 2024, Perseverance has been active on Mars for 1348 sols since its landing. Following the rover's arrival, NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing.
The Mars 2020 mission, consisting of the rover Perseverance and helicopter Ingenuity, was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021. As of December 13, 2024, Perseverance has been on the planet for 1356 sols. Ingenuity operated for 1042 sols until its rotor blades, possibly all four, were damaged during the landing of flight 72 on January 18, 2024, causing NASA to retire the craft.
Octavia E. Butler Landing is the February 18, 2021, landing site of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover within Jezero crater on planet Mars. On March 5, 2021, NASA named the site for the American science fiction author, Octavia E. Butler, who died on February 24, 2006. The Mars landing took place nearly 15 years to the day after her death. The coordinates of the landing site on Mars are 18.44°N 77.45°E
The Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters are a pair of robotic unmanned helicopters being developed by the engineers of the American company AeroVironment Inc. and proposed in March 2022 as a means of delivering Martian soil samples from the sample depots made by the Perseverance rover to the location of the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) that will load these samples onto the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which, in accordance with the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return program, will deliver them to low Martian orbit for future return to Earth.
The NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return is a proposed Flagship-class Mars sample return (MSR) mission to collect Martian rock and soil samples in 43 small, cylindrical, pencil-sized, titanium tubes and return them to Earth around 2033.
Sky crane is a soft landing system used in the last part of the entry, descent and landing (EDL) sequence developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for its two largest Mars rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance. While previous rovers used airbags for landing, both Curiosity and Perseverance were too heavy to be landed this way. Instead, a landing system that combines parachutes and sky crane was developed. Sky crane is a platform with eight engines that lowers the rover on three nylon tethers until the soft landing.
Cheyava Falls is a rock discovered on Mars by NASA's Perseverance rover during its exploration of the Jezero Crater. This rock, named after a Grand Canyon waterfall, has drawn significant attention due to its potential as an indicator of ancient life on Mars. The rover's instruments detected organic compounds within the rock, which are essential for all known life. According to NASA, Cheyava Falls "possesses qualities that fit the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life".
1 2 3 4 "Summary of the Final Report"(PDF). NASA/Mars Program Planning Group. September 25, 2012. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Harwood, William (December 4, 2012). "NASA announces plans for new US$1.5 billion Mars rover". CNET. Retrieved December 5, 2012. Using spare parts and mission plans developed for NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, the space agency says it can build and launch the rover in 2020 and stay within current budget guidelines.
↑ Prince, Andrew; McCauley, Rachel; Kibbey, Timothy; McCollum, Lisa; Oglesby, Britt; Stenfanski, Philip (March 2019). "Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV)"(PDF). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
↑ "Mars 2020 Rover's 7-Foot-Long Robotic Arm Installed". mars.nasa.gov. June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019. The main arm includes five electrical motors and five joints (known as the shoulder azimuth joint, shoulder elevation joint, elbow joint, wrist joint and turret joint). Measuring 7 feet (2.1 meters) long, the arm will allow the rover to work as a human geologist would: by holding and using science tools with its turret, which is essentially its "hand". This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned. ‡ indicates use of the planet as a gravity assist en route to another destination.
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