The Red Planet is out there waiting for us to lay foot on it or even colonize the space object. While we have to be realistic and admit that colonization is a long-term goal, sending humans on the Mars’ surface is totally feasible for the near future.
NASA’s Perseverance rover had its latest launch date set for July 22nd. The rover has a tremendously important mission of roaming the Martian surface and collect data that will eventually tell us more about the chances for life to exist on our neighboring planet. Due to processing problems regarding the launch vehicle, the mission gets another delay.
New launch date: no earlier than July 30
Theoretically speaking, this could mean that the rover can even be launched one year further, but let’s try to be optimistic. NASA revealed July 30 as the minimum launch date for Perseverance. The delay is caused by a problem that needs further investigation. During a practice session, a liquid oxygen sensor line produced “off-nominal data”.
An official statement says:
Due to processing delays in preparations to unite me with the rocket, my first launch attempt will be no earlier than July 30. @NASA and @ulalaunch are working to update the target launch date and have been able to expand the launch period until Aug. 15.
The touch down of the Perseverance rover will be in the Jezero crater from the Red Planet on February 18, 2021.
The rover will be investigating an ancient environment from our neighboring planet, as well as the history and surface geological processes. Scientists know for sure that Mars once had rivers of water, and that is one of the environmental aspects that can allow life to emerge and develop. There are no life forms able to survive without the presence of liquid water. It’s also theoretically possible that life can survive in forms that we don’t know about. The samples we witness on Earth currently represent our best bet for trying to understand how life works (biologically speaking).
