NASA Mars 2020 rover arrives in Florida to prep for July launch to the red planet – Teslarati

NASA’s next Mars rover arrived in Florida this week (Feb. 12) to inaugurate last preparations ahead of its deliberate July open. The six-wheeled rover (and its accompanying Mars Helicopter) had been ferried correct by means of the nation by two Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo planes.  The duo touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Middle at roughly 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST), ending a 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) scurry.

“Our rover has left the handiest dwelling it has ever known,” acknowledged John McNamee, Mars 2020 project supervisor, relating to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. “The 2020 family right here at JPL is a limited sad to witness it travel, however we’re even more proud vivid that the next time our rover takes to the skies, this could be headed to Mars.”

The fundamental bits of the rover had been assembled in Jan. 2018, and now, correct over two years later, the rapidly-to-be-named rover is complete.

Within the next few hours, the rover will be transported to its dwelling for the next a number of months: a in fact expert facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Middle is believed as the Payload Perilous Servicing Facility (PHSF) — the a similar spacecraft processing facility where Curiosity was as soon as housed earlier than its open in 2011. 

Curiosity is currently exploring Gale Crater and assessing the arrangement’s past habitability. Would possibly well possibly life occupy as soon as thrived on the red planet? While there’s no definitive resolution but, Curiosity has made many promising discoveries and is working to clear up some Martian mysteries.

Mars 2020’s duties on the red planet are going to be a bit various as the superior rover is packing instruments that can enable it to transfer attempting for for biosignatures, win up samples for a later return, and test out applied sciences that future human missions to Mars will rely on. The craft will ouch down at Jezero Crater in Feb. 2021 and have to secure some improbable in-situ science.

But earlier than it gets there, it needs to open. Later this week, engineers will inaugurate checking out the rover’s systems to witness how it fared in the center of its depraved-nation scurry. Many months of checking out and last assembly finish up for the rover earlier than it’s some distance encased in its aeroshell in June.

After that, the rover will be transported over to the open pad at Space Delivery Advanced 41 in Cape Canaveral Air Force Residing, where this could be attached to its launcher: an Atlas V.

Mars 2020 will search for for biosignatures (indicators of life) whereas also collecting rock and soil samples to retailer in sealed tubes in the arena’s surface. Subsequent missions will in discovering the samples after which return them to Earth so that scientists correct by means of the arena will be in a arrangement to see them.