Perseverance has Landed on Mars

 

Perserverance has Landed on Mars

Written by Kristine Manganelli (Somerset County 4-H Coordinator)

Groundhog venturing out into early Spring

Illustrations of Perseverance Rover Entering Mars’ Atmosphere Image by NASA

Right now, here in New Jersey, in the United States, on Planet Earth it is 30 degrees outside and lightly snowing. As much as I truly love the snow, even I am starting to dream of spring. But when I think of what it might be like to live on Mars, I remind myself to be grateful. According to NASA, there is a high of 3 degrees on Mars, with a low of -99 degrees! This is because while we are 93 miles from the sun, Mars, the next planet out, is 142 miles from the sun. That difference creates some serious frigid temperatures on the Red Planet.

For this blog post, we are leaving our beautiful planet, and heading 293 million miles into space. As you may have heard, the latest rover on a mission to Mars landed successfully yesterday, February 18, 2021. Perseverance, as it is known, was launched all the way back on July 30, 2020. It took 203 days just for Perseverance to reach its destination. This rover is a robotic geologist and astrobiologist, and the most advanced we’ve ever sent to Mars with 7 science instruments, 23 cameras and 2 microphones.

Despite being the shortest part of the mission at only 7 minutes, Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) is the most intense phase. During the descent from the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, hundreds of events must unfold perfectly for a safe landing to occur.

First photo from surface of Mars taken by Perseverance Image by NASA

First photo from surface of Mars taken by Perseverance

Image by NASA

Yesterday Perseverance did just that on Mars’ Jezero Crater, and will not begin its 2 year exploration of this part of the planet. It is important to study Mars as it shares many geological similarities with Earth. They are both terrestrial or rocky planets, and like Earth, Mars has an atmosphere, crust, mantle and core. Further, all of the rocks identified on Mars can be found here on Earth.

However, there are also many differences between these planets; while ice can be found, there is no liquid water or bodies of water like rivers and oceans. The atmosphere is very thin and mostly consists of carbon dioxide, making life as we know it, impossible there.

The main mission of Perseverance is to seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) for possible return to Earth. Scientists chose Jezero Crater because 3.5 billion years ago it had a river delta and was filled with water. Perseverance will investigate the rock and sediment to characterize geology and past climate, as well as search for signs of ancient microbial life.

Get Outside (Outer Space Version)

To learn more about Mars and the Perseverance mission check out this interactive dashboard.

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Somerset County 4-H