MARS 2020
THE BOLDEST MISSION YET TO THE RED PLANET FEATURES THE PERSEVERANCE ROVER AND INGENUITY HELICOPTER
Words by Andrew May
DID YOU KNOW? Jezero crater, which was filled with water in the distant past, takes its name from a Slavic word for lake
© NASA All images © NASA
NASA’s latest Mars venture was launched in July 2020, but it was nearly seven months later, on 18 February this year, that it finally touched down on the Red Planet. It was the space agency’s sixth successful Mars landing this century – an impressive feat that’s reflected in the name of the rover, Perseverance. This is the largest vehicle sent to Mars so far; it’s about 14 per cent heavier than Curiosity, which landed in 2012 and is still operational today.
Perseverance looks a lot like Curiosity – its basic design is 90 per cent the same. This was a deliberate choice: Curiosity was a resounding success, so it’s cheaper and safer to reuse as much of the same tech as possible. One of the few areas where NASA felt there was room for improvement was in the rover’s wheels, which receive a considerable battering from the Martian terrain. Perseverance has a new set of wheels, made from the same material but with thicker skin and a different tread pattern.