Cape Canaveral, Fla., July 30: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off with NASA's Perseverance rover, which is due to land on Mars early next year.JOEL KOWSKY/NASA/AFP via Getty Images/AFP/Getty Images
NASA’s Perseverance mission has begun its journey to Mars.
The Atlas V launch vehicle carrying a one-tonne rover lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 7:50 a.m. ET on Thursday.
About 45 minutes later, after looping part way around the Earth, the rocket’s upper stage fired again and then separated from its payload, putting the rover on course for its seven-month journey to Mars.
Earlier concerns that the launch might be affected by tropical storms did not materialize and the spacecraft ascended into a clear blue sky. Flight controllers had approximately two weeks to get the rover off the ground or risk a two-year delay to the mission.
“It’s a great day. We’re all so excited to be on our way after all this work,” said Bobby Braun, director of solar system exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is mission control for Perseverance.
Billed as the most sophisticated spacecraft ever sent to Mars, Perseverance is designed to set itself down on the floor of Jezero Crater in February, 2021. The crater is an ancient lake bed where water gushed in billions of years ago, forming a river delta with layers of sediment that can be seen from orbit. Perseverance will investigate the delta and other formations for signs of past life, drill into rocks and collect samples for return to Earth by a follow-up mission.
Mars's Jezero crater, Perseverance's destination.NASA/AFP/Getty Images/AFP/Getty Images
Christopher Herd, a planetary scientist and meteorite expert at the University of Alberta, is part of the team that will help decide which rocks the rover should sample once Perseverance is rolling around on the surface of the planet.
Like many science team members, he watched the launch at home this morning. In the past, international collaborators working on NASA missions have been invited to watch launches in person. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions turned the event into an online affair.
Dr. Herd said this did not dull the sense of excitement over the mission now being safely under way.
“It’s thrilling to have now started the first major step in bringing samples back [from Mars],” he said. “Now we can really focus our efforts on planning for exploring the Jezero Crater landing site, and wondering what that exploration will bring, and which samples we will be able to collect.”
Alexander Mather, of Burke, Va., stands next to a model of the Perseverance rover, which he named in a contest, at the Kennedy Space Center.John Raoux/The Associated Press/The Associated Press
With a power source that relies on plutonium, the rover could operate for years. Its predecessor, Curiosity, landed on Mars in August, 2012, and it is still working well.
In addition to its life science investigations, Perseverance carries experiments that are relevant to the future exploration of Mars by human astronauts. This includes a device that will attempt to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars.
Tucked under the belly of the rover is a small, 1.8-kilogram robotic helicopter dubbed Ingenuity that will attempt to demonstrate the first powered flight on another planet.
Other instruments aboard the US$2.4-billion rover include contributions from Norway, Italy, France and Spain.
The rover is the third spacecraft to depart for Mars this month. China and the United Arab Emirates launched their first Mars missions last week.
Among the world’s space agencies, NASA has the longest track record on Mars, having notched the first successful flyby in 1965, the first spacecraft to orbit the planet in 1971 and the first successful landing in 1976. More recently, the U.S. space agency has operated at least one spacecraft in orbit around Mars without interruption since 1997, and on the surface since 2004.
Mission briefing: Where is Perseverance going?
Three countries – China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States – are sending spacecraft to Mars this year. NASA’s Perseverance rover is the most ambitious. It will search for signs of past life and collect samples for return to Earth at a later date
THE JOURNEY
The seven-month flight path minimizes travel time for all three probes. Perseverance is set to land on February 18, 2021. The UAE and Chinese missions will enter orbit around Mars in February and China will send its lander down a few months after that
Mars at arrival
Flight
trajectory
1.335 AU
1.567 AU
Earth at
arrival
1 AU*
The Sun
Earth at
launch
Mars at
launch
*The astronomical unit (AU), a measure of distance, is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, about 149.6 million km.
THE LANDING
Because of the signal delay between Earth and Mars, Perseverance is designed to guide itself safely down to the surface with an automated navigation system
TERRAIN-RELATIVE
NAVIGATION
1
Camera takes pictures as rover descends
2
Computer compares these to maps of area and adjusts flightpath to avoid hazards
3
Lander lowers rover as close as possible to target site
THE DESTINATION
Jezero Crater was once a deep lake. It features an ancient river delta where Perseverance can explore layers of sediment before moving on to the crater rim
JEZERO
CRATER
45km
THE ROVER
Perseverance is outfitted with a suite of cameras and other instruments. It can drill into Martian rock and cache the core samples for later collection by a follow up mission
INGENUITY
Drone-like helicopter carried on rover’s belly will demonstrate first powered flight on another planet
THE LEGACY
More than 30 spacecraft have been sent to Mars, starting with the first attempt by the Soviet Union in 1962. Several have imaged Mars from orbit but only eight have carried out missions on the planet’s surface. If successful, NASA’s Perseverance and China’s Tianwen-1 will make nine and ten.
Probe type and duration active on the surface:
Lander
Rover
Hybrid mission
Tianwen-1
Perseverance
InSight (active)
Curiosity (active)
Phoenix
Opportunity
Spirit
Pathfinder/Sojourner
Viking 2
Viking 1
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,
SOURCE: NASA; GRAPHIC NEWS
Three countries – China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States – are sending spacecraft to Mars this year. NASA’s Perseverance rover is the most ambitious. It will search for signs of past life and collect samples for return to Earth at a later date
THE JOURNEY
The seven-month flight path minimizes travel time for all three probes. Perseverance is set to land on February 18, 2021. The UAE and Chinese missions will enter orbit around Mars in February and China will send its lander down a few months after that
Mars at arrival
Flight
trajectory
1.335 AU
1.567 AU
Earth at
arrival
1 AU*
The Sun
Earth at
launch
Mars at
launch
*The astronomical unit (AU), a measure of distance, is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, about 149.6 million km.
THE LANDING
Because of the signal delay between Earth and Mars, Perseverance is designed to guide itself safely down to the surface with an automated navigation system
TERRAIN-RELATIVE
NAVIGATION
1
Camera takes pictures as rover descends
2
Computer compares these to maps of area and adjusts flightpath to avoid hazards
3
Lander lowers rover as close as possible to target site
THE DESTINATION
Jezero Crater was once a deep lake. It features an ancient river delta where Perseverance can explore layers of sediment before moving on to the crater rim
JEZERO
CRATER
45km
THE ROVER
Perseverance is outfitted with a suite of cameras and other instruments. It can drill into Martian rock and cache the core samples for later collection by a follow up mission
INGENUITY
Drone-like helicopter carried on rover’s belly will demonstrate first powered flight on another planet
THE LEGACY
More than 30 spacecraft have been sent to Mars, starting with the first attempt by the Soviet Union in 1962. Several have imaged Mars from orbit but only eight have carried out missions on the planet’s surface. If successful, NASA’s Perseverance and China’s Tianwen-1 will make nine and ten.
Probe type and duration active on the surface:
Lander
Rover
Hybrid mission
Tianwen-1
Perseverance
InSight (active)
Curiosity (active)
Phoenix
Opportunity
Pathfinder/Sojourner
Viking 2
Viking 1
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,
SOURCE: NASA; GRAPHIC NEWS
Three countries – China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States – are sending spacecraft to Mars this year. NASA’s Perseverance rover is the most ambitious. It will search for signs of past life and collect samples for return to Earth at a later date
THE JOURNEY
The seven-month flight path minimizes travel time for all three probes. Perseverance is set to land on February 18, 2021. The UAE and Chinese missions will enter orbit around Mars in February and China will send its lander down a few months after that
Mars at arrival
Flight
trajectory
1.335 AU
1.567 AU
Earth at
arrival
1 AU*
The Sun
Earth at
launch
Mars at
launch
*The astronomical unit (AU), a measure of distance, is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, about 149.6 million km.
THE LANDING
Because of the signal delay between Earth and Mars, Perseverance is designed to guide itself safely down to the surface with an automated navigation system
TERRAIN-RELATIVE
NAVIGATION
1
Camera takes pictures as rover descends
2
Computer compares these to maps of area and adjusts flightpath to avoid hazards
3
Lander lowers rover as close as possible to target site
THE DESTINATION
Jezero Crater was once a deep lake. It features an ancient river delta where Perseverance can explore layers of sediment before moving on to the crater rim
Rover path
Search Spots
River canyon
Carved by water which flowed through crater rim 3.5 billion years ago
JEZERO
CRATER
45km
DELTA
Crater rim
Shoreline of
former lake
Landing
site
Edge of delta
Ancient lake bed
THE ROVER
Perseverance is outfitted with a suite of cameras and other instruments. It can drill into Martian rock and cache the core samples for later collection by a follow up mission
POWER SUPPLY
Relies on the decay of radioactive plutonium to generate electricity
SUPERCAM
Can fire a laser to illuminate rocks and study mineral composition from several metres
SHERLOC
Ultraviolet spectrometer searches for organics and minerals
RIMFAX
Ground-penetrating radar to map geology beneath surface
MASTCAM-Z
Advanced camera
MEDA
Weather station
PIXL
X-ray spectrometer to identify chemical elements
MOXIE
Experiment to demonstrate how astronauts might produce oxygen from Martian CO2 for breathing and fuel
INGENUITY
Drone-like helicopter carried on rover’s belly will demonstrate first powered flight on another planet
THE LEGACY
More than 30 spacecraft have been sent to Mars, starting with the first attempt by the Soviet Union in 1962. Several have imaged Mars from orbit but only eight have carried out missions on the planet’s surface. If successful, NASA’s Perseverance and China’s Tianwen-1 will make nine and ten.
Probe type and duration active on the surface:
Lander
Rover
Hybrid mission
Tianwen-1
Perseverance
InSight (active)
Curiosity (active)
Phoenix
Opportunity
Spirit
Pathfinder/Sojourner
Viking 2
Viking 1
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: NASA; GRAPHIC NEWS
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