Perseverance Mission
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Subject: Science and tech
Context:
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is going to be launched
Concept:
- Perseverance will carry a unique instrument, MOXIE or Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment: which for the first time will manufacture molecular oxygen on Mars using carbon dioxide from the carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere.
- It will carry Ingenuity, the first ever helicopter to fly on Mars. This is the first time NASA will fly a helicopter on another planet or satellite. Like a drone on Earth, a Mars helicopter can help in rover drive planning and in fetching samples from locations that the rover cannot safely driveto.
- It is the planned first step to bring back rock samples from Mars for analysis in sophisticated laboratories on Earth with the goal of looking for bio signatures: or signatures of present or past life. The analysis of Martian rocks on Earth will likely provide a reliable indication of whether life on Mars is feasible in the past or at present.