On the 18th February 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover, their most recent mission, successfully touched down onto Mars into the Jerezo Crater with its six wheels planting themselves upon the dusty surfaces. This rover is the most advanced to date consisting of innovative technology with the paramount aim to collect evidence of extra-terrestrial life in forms of images, rock samples and general signs to progress further from our initial discovery in 2012 of an ancient flow of water on Mars by the Curiosity rover. So, what does this mean for mankind?
By searching for signs of microbial life it can therefore characterise the planet’s climate and its properties to evaluate its habitability for further exploration in the future with prospects of allowing space crews to test the boundaries of discovery.
“This could be an absolutely pivotal moment for us but only time can tell what we may uncover, safe to say, it’s exciting.”- a space enthusiast.
In a matter of days, the first audio ever on Mars has been recorded, the sound of a five metre per second windy gust, which many people believe shows the promising potential of Perseverance. Furthermore, the rover is equipped with a robotic arm combined with scientific instruments that can allow Perseverance to drive kilometres at a time and then drill into various rocks to collect samples.
Initial images that have already been shown, portray the immense possibility of exploring the Red Planet, but what’s next? After granting the rover enough time to survey the environment, NASA has already prepared the mission following the year 2031 to return the specimens back to Earth and begin the investigations.
