NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Passes Flight Readiness Review – Launch Window Opens on July 30

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Mars 2020 Rover Test Drive

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In a tidy space at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers observed the very first driving test for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover on December 17, 2019. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The company’s Mars 2020 objective has another huge prelaunch evaluation — the Launch Readiness Review, on July 27.

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover objective cleared its Flight Readiness Review Wednesday, an essential turning point on its method to the launch pad. The conference was a chance for the Mars 2020 group and launch car service provider United Launch Alliance to report on the preparedness of the spacecraft, together with the Atlas V rocket, flight and ground hardware, software application, workers, and treatments. The day-to-day launch window on Thursday July 30 opens at 7: 50 a.m. EDT.

Maneuvering Perseverance

The nose cone consisting of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is navigated into location atop its Atlas V rocket. The image was taken at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 7, 2020. Credit: NASA/KSC

“Our deepest thanks go to the many teams who have worked so hard to get Perseverance ready to fly during these challenging times,” stated NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This mission is emblematic of our nation’s spirit of meeting problems head-on and finding solutions together. The incredible science Perseverance will enable and the bold human missions it will help make possible are going to be inspirations for us all.”

 

“We’re pleased to be passing another milestone with the completion of the Flight Readiness Review,” stated Matt Wallace, deputy task supervisor for the objective at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. “But we’ll keep our heads down through the final prelaunch activities and the opening of the launch window next week, until we’re certain this spacecraft is safely on its way. Mars is a tough customer, and we don’t take anything for granted.”

With all the connections in between the spacecraft and Atlas V launch car total, most of service staying for Mars 2020’s Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) group includes taking a look at each of the wide variety of systems and subsystems onboard the rover, aeroshell, cruise phase, and descent phase.

In February 2020, NASA’s Perseverance Rover started its long journey to Mars by very first taking a trip throughout the United States. The rover was developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and after that thoroughly jam-packed and flown to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“NASA can’t wait to take the next steps on the surface of Mars with Perseverance,” stated Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The science and technology of this mission are going to help us address major questions about the geologic and astrobiologic history of Mars that we’ve been working on for decades, and we’re excited to take the whole world with us on this journey.”

“At this point, the spacecraft has been powered on and will remain so around the clock,” stated Dave Gruel, ATLO supervisor for Mars 2020. “The launch operations team will continue to monitor the health of the spacecraft to ensure it’s ‘Go’ for launch — nothing glamorous, but an important part of the job.”

The spacecraft and launch groups have another significant evaluation to finish. Scheduled Monday, July 27, the Launch Readiness Review is the last substantial examination prior to the objective gets last approval to continue with launch.

“At present, everything is green across the board,” stated Wallace. “Everyone involved with this endeavor, from the spacecraft team to the launch vehicle team to those working the range, are looking forward to seeing Perseverance begin its long-awaited flight to Mars.”

Around 1 p.m. EDT on July 27, or roughly one hour after the Launch Readiness Review ends, the company will hold a preflight press conference that will air survive on NASA Television and the company’s site.

The Perseverance rover’s astrobiology objective will look for indications of ancient microbial life. It will likewise define the world’s environment and geology, lead the way for human expedition of the Red Planet, and be the very first planetary objective to gather and cache picked samples of Martian rock and regolith (damaged rock and dust). Subsequent objectives, presently under factor to consider by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send out spacecraft to Mars to gather these cached samples from the surface area and return them to Earth for thorough analysis.

JPL, which is handled by Caltech in Pasadena, is developing and will handle operations of Perseverance for NASA. The company’s Launch Services Program, based at the company’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is accountable for launch management. The Mars 2020 objective with its Perseverance rover become part of America’s bigger Moon to Mars expedition technique that consists of objectives to the Moon as a method to get ready for human expedition of the Red Planet. Charged with sending out the very first lady and next guy to the Moon by 2024, NASA will develop a continual human existence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis program.