NASA has planned to launch its Mars Rover next month after 10 years of planning for this mission. Dubbed ‘Perseverance’, this rover launch will serve as a tribute to all the medical workers, since it is being launched in the middle of the pandemic. This rover which is touted to be launched in July, will search for habitable regions on Mars, as well as signs for microbial life.
“We wanted to demonstrate our appreciation for those who have put their personal well-being on the line for the good of others,” said Matt Wallace, Perseverance deputy project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement.
As is the case for every launch, while the scheduled date for launch is on July 20,. 2020, the launch window extends till August 11, so as to be prepared for bad weather or technical difficulties.
Notably, this name was chosen after NASA had announced a nationwide contest to name the rover well ahead of the pandemic. The winning entry was by Alexander Mather, a seventh grade student in Virginia, who had entered his submission back in 2019. This served as the perfect time for this name, while the world grapples with an unprecedented crisis.
These last few months of preparing the rover for launch have happened during the constraints of safe operation during a pandemic. But the teams rose to the challenge, and the launch remains on schedule.