2020′s final Mars mission blasts off from Florida

[Archae]

Source: WBAY, ABC affiliate in Green Bay, WI


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built — a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers — blasted off Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life.

NASA's Perseverance rode a mighty Atlas V rocket into the morning sky in the world's third and final Mars launch of the summer. China and the United Arab Emirates got a head start last week, but all three missions should reach the red planet in February after a journey of seven months and 300 million miles (480 million kilometers).

Read more: Link to souhttps://www.wbay.com/2020/07/30/2020s-final-mars-mission-poised-for-blastoff-from-florida/rce

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Just launched, on it's way!

[BittyJenkins]

1. My boy

Created the software for the cameras! It is very exciting.

[Archae]

2. How long will it take to get to Mars?

Here's hoping all goes well.

[LastDemocratInSC]

3. About 7 months.

[Archae]

4. Saw that in the story I posted, but thanks.

The distances out in space are just so vast!

[electric_blue68]

8. Very cool!

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Watched it live but the BEST thing to watch for when it gets there is this--

The little helicopter - "Ingenuity".



Boy I hope that will survive the journey and landing and will work!!! Who knows, it may find this guy -

[Archae]

6. Sure is more sophisticated than my drone!

[BumRushDaShow]

7. When NASA had the commentators on

they had a mock-up of it and it is relatively "small", although a couple times the size of a consumer quadrocopter. The thing needs to lift and fly through an atmosphere that is something like 1% of Earth's.

[electric_blue68]

9. I missed the launch (will look later) but I did see...

...when they used the info coming to show by digital proxy the Rover module separate from the stage 2 rocket.

THAT was exciting, even if digital model.

Have a nice quite 7 month journey Perseverance/Ingenuity!