ULA - Atlas V / Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch poster.
July 30, 2020
Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, carrying NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. Photo Credit: NASA.
Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, carrying NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. Photo Credit: NASA.
Mars 2020 launch
Perseverance completes Successful Spacecraft Separation
Just over an hour into its flight, Perseverance is now officially on its way to Mars.
Perseverance completes Successful Spacecraft Separation. Image Credits: ULA/NASA TV
A key milestone — spacecraft separation — has taken place. The official call just came in: “And we have successful separation of Mars 2020 with the Perseverance rover.”
Mars 2020 spacecraft separation and acquisition of signal
Perseverance ‘Calls Home’ to Confirm Mars is the Next Stop
Today’s final critical milestone — acquisition of signal — has been achieved. In essence, Perseverance has phoned home to let us know it’s officially on the way to Mars.
“This signifies that JPL’s (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory) deep space network has locked on to the spacecraft, which is on its journey to Mars,” said NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez, from the agency’s Launch Services Program. “Everything appears to be going nominally. Today’s count went beautifully.”
Mars Perseverance Mission Overview
Image above: This artist's concept shows the sky-crane maneuver during the descent of NASA's Curiosity rover to the Martian surface. The Mars mission launching in 2020 would leverage the design of this landing system and other aspects of the Mars Science Laboratory architecture. Image Credits: NASA/JPL.
The Mars Perseverance rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The Mars Perseverance mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself.
Mars Perseverance rover. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Mars Perseverance rover introduces a drill that can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a "cache" on the surface of Mars. The mission also provides opportunities to gather knowledge and demonstrate technologies that address the challenges of future human expeditions to Mars. These include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.
Diagram Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The mission is timed for a launch opportunity in July/August 2020 when Earth and Mars are in good positions relative to each other for landing on Mars. That is, it takes less power to travel to Mars at this time, compared to other times when Earth and Mars are in different positions in their orbits. To keep mission costs and risks as low as possible, the Mars 2020 design is based on NASA's successful Mars Science Laboratory mission architecture, including its Curiosity rover and proven landing system.
Image above: In February 2021, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (shown in an artist's concept) will be the agency's two newest explorers on Mars. Both were named by students as part of an essay contest. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Image above: This illustration shows Ingenuity awaiting takeoff on Mars. NASA’s aviation experts in atmospheric flight shared their experience with the helicopter’s designers to help ensure the technology demonstration on the Red Planet will be a success. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Related articles:
Jezero Crater, Landing Site for the Mars Perseverance Rover
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/jezero-crater-landing-site-for-mars.html
A New Video Captures the Science of NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-new-video-captures-science-of-nasas.html
6 Things to Know About NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-ingenuity.html
7 Things to Know About the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/7-things-to-know-about-mars-2020.html
For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
Mars Perseverance Rover: http://www.nasa.gov/perseverance
Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Linda Herridge/James Cawley/NASA TV/SciNews.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
