NASA s Perseverance rover will collect the most important rocks scientists have ever handled, with one researcher involved in the hunt for evidence of life on Mars, saying these will be the rarest rock since those returned by the Apollo Moon landings 50 years ago.
Landing on the Red Planet is an incredibly tough feat.
Not least because of the signal delay - which takes 11 minutes to reach Earth - meaning various crafts have had to go in blind, away from human interference.
NASA said: Landing on Mars is hard. Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars – by any space agency - have been successful. Hundreds of things have to go just right during this nail-biting drop.
Mars rover landing: NASA warns only 40 percent of Mars missions have been a success (Image: NASA)
NASA Perseverance facts (Image: EXPRESS) What’s more, Perseverance has to handle everything by itself.
NASA S Perseverance Rover will land on the surface of Mars in the coming days, completing a hat-trick of Martian arrivals this month following the UAE s and China s success. But what is the goal of NASA s Perseverance mission?
»NASA s Perseverance Rover to Land on Mars in Feb. Will We Finally Know Origin of Life On Earth?
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NASA s Perseverance Rover to Land on Mars in Feb. Will We Finally Know Origin of Life On Earth?
NASA s Perseverance Mars Rover. Image credits: AFP.
Jezero Crater is believed to be the perfect place to search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. Billions of years ago, the now-bone-dry 45-kilometre-wide basin was home to an actively-forming river delta and lake filled with water.
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NASA s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is set to complete a 470.8-million-kilometre next month as it is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18. Launched on July 30 last year, the rover is currently closing that distance at 2.5 kilometres per second, NASA said.