Explainer: NASA's 2020 Perseverance Rover

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — NASA successfully launched the 2020 Perseverance mission from Florida's Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:50 a.m. on July 29. This spacecraft is carrying an orbiter, a rover and a drone helicopter.

According to NASA, the Perseverance mission will land on the red planet on February 18, 2021.

The spacecraft will deploy the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter. The vehicles are to explore the Jezero Crater, which was once a lake bed on Mars.

The Perseverance rover's design is based on the Curiosity rover, which was launched in 2011.

The Perseverance includes a cross-country suspension system; a plutonium power source that charges the rover's batteries; a mast with cameras and sensors; an antenna that communicates directly with Earth; and a robotic arm.

The arm will use a drill to bore into the ground. The arm's X-ray and ultraviolet spectrometers will scan the soil for amino acids and fatty acids, which would imply the presence of lifeforms that may have existed on Mars.


TomoNews is your best source for real news. We cover the funniest, craziest, and most talked-about stories on the internet. If you're laughing, we're laughing. If you're outraged, we're outraged. We tell it like it is. And because we can animate stories, TomoNews brings you news like you've never seen before.

You Idiot! - People doing stupid things
http://bit.ly/You-Idiot

Recent Uploads - The latest stories brought to you by TomoNews
http://bit.ly/Latest-TomoNews

Thanks for watching TomoNews!
Like TomoNews on Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Follow us on Twitter ►► @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Follow us on Instagram ►► @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus
Subscribe to TomoNews ►► http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-TomoNews
Watch more TomoNews ►► http://bit.ly/MoreTomoNews

Visit our website for all the latest videos: http://us.tomonews.com
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f

Get top stories delivered to your inbox every day: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter