Nasa’s new Mars rover size of an SUV, carries tiny chopper
CAPECANAVERAL: With eight successful Mars landings, Nasa is upping the ante with its newest rover.
The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff on Thursday from Cape Canaveral— is Nasa’s biggest and brainiest Martian rover yet. It has the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars. Its supersanitised sample return tubes — for rocks that could hold evidence of past Martian life — are the cleanest items ever bound for space.
Perseverance is this summer’s third and final mission to Mars — after the UAE’S Hope orbiter and China’s Quest for Heavenly Truth orbiter-rover combo. A helicopter is even tagging along for an otherworldly test flight.
Here’s a peek at Perseverance: The six-wheeled, Suvsized rover is a copycat of Nasa’s 2011 Curiosity rover, but with upgrades. Its 7-foot robotic arm has a stronger grip and bigger drill for collecting rock samples, and it’s packed with 23 cameras that will provide the first glimpse of a parachute billowing open at Mars. The two microphones will let Earthlings eavesdrop on the planet for the first time.
Perseverance carries other experiments that could directly benefit astronauts at Mars. An instrument the size of a car battery will covert atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen, an essential ingredient for rocket propellant. Another instrument, zapping rocks with lasers to identify organic molecules and minerals, carries samples of spacesuit material to see how the fabrics withstand the harsh Martian environment.