Fascinating mission.

This will be the largest rover to land on Mars, one metric ton. It even has a mini helicopter to capture aerial views.

In addition to looking for evidence of life, it will prepare samples for a future mission, to collect and return to Earth.

It will also be a precursor to a manned Mars landing. In fact there's an experiment onboard to convert Martian atmosphere to oxygen. 

So we have the heaviest and largest rover to be sent to the red planet, landing in the most dangerous location, Jezero Crater. 

Perseverance will also have a high definition camera onboard to record the landing, so we can observe the most dangerous phase. Not to mention microphones too, so we can hear what Mars sound like 

 

Quote

 

Perseverance's destination is the Jezero Crater, a 500-meter-deep crater located in a basin slightly north of the Martian equator. Jezero Crater once housed a lake estimated to have dried out 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago, which makes it an ideal destination to hunt for ancient, microbial life that may have once existed on Mars.

 

 

The mission will also test out conditions for possible human exploration of Mars by trialing a method of producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, characterizing environmental conditions such as water and dust on Mars, and looking for resources.

Perseverance will land on Mars on February 18, 2021. It will join the Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in August 2012 and is still roaming the Red Planet today.

 

 

Edited January 28, 20215 yr by martin-w

I know that I'm not an activist or with an agenda regarding Global warming and other BS.

 

I'm just thinking, having in view of what's going on Earth today we might be better of spending this money on taking care

of people dying and educate people not destroying our planet.

 

I'm sorry, I'm very emotional, today I brought home a few caskets of young boys from far away places because we fight wars and apparently we are more interested in how Mars sounds like.

 

Martin, nothing personal with you. It's just that when we bring them back we are hurting big time and when we (actually I'm talking about me now) drives me insane.

 

SORRY 

Edited January 28, 20215 yr by killthespam

46 minutes ago, killthespam said:

I know that I'm not an activist or with an agenda regarding Global warming and other BS.

 

I'm just thinking, having in view of what's going on Earth today we might be better of spending this money on taking care

of people dying and educate people not destroying our planet.

 

I'm sorry, I'm very emotional, today I brought home a few caskets of young boys from far away places because we fight wars and apparently we are more interested in how Mars sounds like.

 

Martin, nothing personal with you. It's just that when we bring them back we are hurting big time and when we (actually I'm talking about me now) drives me insane.

 

SORRY 

 

1. Global warming isn't BS. 

2. SpaceX SN9 Mars endeavors will be funded by SpaceX's own product... Skylink. 

3. We can do positive things  (including mitigating climate change) at the same time, in synchrony, its not one or the other. 

4. Unfortunately, the money a private company,  SpaceX, is spending won't stop politicians and the military industrial complex starting wars.

5. The other point of course is that there are all manner of existential crisis that human beings face and will face in the future.

6. There are all manner of technological advancements that have come from pushing the technological envelope. 

 

Edited January 28, 20215 yr by martin-w

How peace on a planet we will have named after the Roman god of war sounds like; will always sound better than how war has ever sounded on Earth.

16 hours ago, killthespam said:

I'm very emotional, today I brought home a few caskets of young boys from far away places because we fight wars and apparently we are more interested in how Mars sounds like.

Sorry to hear that. I thought the most recent former occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. was endeavouring to bring the troops home? 🍻

Yes NASA's federal funding may be a sore point (public money), but at least there are other options - Space X could probably stick a microphone on Mars to hear what it sounds like, and Space X is a private company isn't it?

29 minutes ago, HighBypass said:

 

Yes NASA's federal funding may be a sore point (public money), but at least there are other options - Space X could probably stick a microphone on Mars to hear what it sounds like, and Space X is a private company isn't it?

 

As I said, SpaceX are spending their own money. And we may be glad they did, in the future, when a big rock heads this way, or the resorces we are running out of need replenishing, or there's no more room for new human beings etc.

For the same reasons, NASA's funding has merit too. We cant abandon scientific research, which is what NASA is primarily about, because there are other issues in the world. Countless technological advancements, some of which save lives, have come from the space programs.

And again.... the wars that generate dead human beings won't be stopped by "not exploring Mars". 

Then of course we have the huge number of people employed by NASA and the numerous companies that supply them.

So no, the argument that we shouldn't spend public money on spae exploration is not a valid argument. In fact I say its imperative for our future that we do.

6 minutes ago, martin-w said:

So no, the argument that we shouldn't spend public money on space exploration is not a valid argument.

No argument from me - it may be a sore point to other people  Heck - look at the backlash for India having a space program.

22 minutes ago, martin-w said:

And again.... the wars that generate dead human beings won't be stopped by "not exploring Mars". 

True. Ridding whole societies of non-essentials was tried and it has failed to appease the world; long before space-exploration was possible.