Quirky News / 19 February 2021
Perseverance to touch down
NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to land on the Red Planet at around 7.55am (AEST) this morning after 7 months of travel – and 7 minutes of terror… That’s not to say it’s a done deal – nearly 50% of previous missions failed to land their spacecraft on Mars. Working in NASA’s favour is the fact they’ve been the ones that have made most of the successful landings, and sometimes you’ve gotta work the percentages… If successful, Perseverance (alongside the Ingenuity helicopter drone) will attempt to find out what life, if any, has ever existed there. The rover’s first stop is the Jezero Crater, which scientists reckon may have once held water – and with it, living creatures. You can watch the landing and view an interactive map of the rover’s movements here.
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