UK Space Agency launched Mars Rover Perseverance on Thursday, 30th July. This mission aims at studying the existence of life on the red planet.
One of NASA's most ambitious Mars projects to study if there is life on the planet took off on Thursday from Florida’s Cape Canavera. It is NASA's ninth Mars mission that will take seven months to reach its destination. With a total cost of almost $3 billion, it is also one of the most expensive missions to date. Mars rover Perseverance will land on Mars in February next year.
Perseverance is a nuclear-powered buggy, weighing 1,050kg, which will be the fifth NASA rover to land on Mars. It will also be the first human vehicle to ever take-off from the surface and fly in the Martian skies. The landing location is Jezero crater which is considered as an ancient river delta of the planet. Rock and soil samples will be collected from the location by the researchers from Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum with the help of the UK Space Agency.
Take a look:
We’re on our way to Mars – me and the almost 11 million names I carry. One home behind us, and a new one ahead. #CountdownToMars
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) July 30, 2020
Post-launch Update: https://t.co/ssXuLjQVez pic.twitter.com/fJmK48hTiL
NASA will be launching its new Mars rover, Perseverance, a robotic vehicle equipped to understand if life is possible on the red planet pic.twitter.com/QszLymeKo2
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 30, 2020
Liftoff!
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) July 30, 2020
As seen from the skies above Florida’s Space Coast, NASA’s newest Mars rover, Perseverance, begins its journey to the Red Planet, launching aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket! #Mars2020
What an absolutely beautiful morning. pic.twitter.com/CnjNhmsTYb