NASA ’s Mars 2020 mission , which features the rover Perseverance andhelicopter Ingenuity , will launch this Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida . The commission received the ok to plunge yesterday and is expected to lift - off at 7:50 am ET .
“ I just want to say that the launch facility inspection is ended and we are ‘ go ’ for launch , ” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine say on a alive broadcast . “ We are in fact move to now launch what we now call Mars Perseverance in the year 2020 . And I imagine the name is perfectly appropriate . We are in extraordinary times aright now with the coronavirus pandemic , and yet we have in fact hang in and we have protected this mission because it is so important . "
All break well , the mission is expected to put down on Mars in the second one-half of February 2021 in Jezero volcanic crater . The sphere was once inundate with water system and after became fat in vast clay deposit .
tenaciousness is the fifth NASA rover that will embellish the ground of the Red Planet and it is the most advanced yet . The wanderer will investigate the Martian Earth’s surface like never before , microphoneswill be direct to Mars for the first metre , and sample distribution will be collected for an eventualSample - Return missionary work .
The mission will also see the examination of Ingenuity , the first flight automobile we are sending to another world . The little eggbeater is merely a technology demonstration that the team hop will fly autonomously for 30 Martian - day . If successful , this could be the beginning of many more aeriform missionary station to Mars and beyond .
With this launch , the US will be the third state to launch a mission to Mars this month , follow the United Arab Emirates found ofHopeand China’sTianwen-1 . This is a crowded clip to go to Mars because launching this summertime allow for for the light potential course towards the Red Planet . This launch windowpane repeats about every 780 days , with the European and Russian roverRosalind Franklinslotted to found in 2022 .
Live coverage will take place on YouTube and acrosssocial medium platforms .
