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Meet NASA’s New Robot Roller

Many companies like SpaceX have tried (but failed) to send rovers and robots to Mars, also known as the Red Planet. But now NASA is going to move forward with their new Mars rover.

Just like Solar Orbiter, Perseverance promises to ‘touch the Red Planet’, with a whole heap of hi-tech technology on board. The mission takes the art of space travel further as the whole point of the mission is to see whether life existed on Mars, or even see if microbial life exists NOW. It does this by searching for habitable conditions or dips in ground level where water could have thrived millions of years ago.

Perseverance introduces a fast moving, hi-tech drill that can bore into the ground. It sends a message to the ‘brain’, which sends ANOTHER message to the arm, which picks the sample up and stores it in a drawer which will later be examined back on a Earth. Bigger samples or samples that share too heave will be left behind a special rock which future humans will pick up on a future mission.

There are lots more technology onboard. There is a device which tests the Martian air and tracks down traces of long-lost oxygen. This could mean life existed there.

Adding to this, there is a special scanner which scans the surface, air, and rocks and looks for any signs of life. Maybe NASA want to make friends with extra-terrestrial beings?

It is timed to be launched June 2020 where Earth and Mars are in good distances. This means that the spacecraft carrying Perseverance can go in a straight line instead of turning wildly. NASA always time their missions correctly so after years of work, they get something easy.

This info is top-secret. Don’t tell anyone about the new spacecraft (Oh, go on then.)   

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  1. Again an interesting and informative article .

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