The spacecraft also has a slew of cameras and microphones to capture the sights and sounds of descent and landing, a Martian first.įaster than previous Mars vehicles but still moving at a glacial pace, the six-wheeled Perseverance will drive across Jezero, collecting core samples of the most enticing rocks and gravel.

NASA is upping its game thanks to new navigation technology designed to guide the rover to a safe spot. That's what China's Tianwen-1 rover will be shooting for in Mars' Utopia Planitia. Until Perseverance, NASA sought out flat, boring terrain on which to land - 'one giant parking lot,' Chen said. Amal and Tianwen-1 will also need to operate autonomously while maneuvering into orbit. With an 11½-minute communication lag each way, the rover will be on its own, unable to rely on flight controllers. Steep cliffs, deep pits and fields of rocks could cripple or doom Perseverance, following its seven-minute atmospheric plunge. 'When the scientists take a look at a site like Jezero Crater, they see the promise, right?' said Al Chen, who's in charge of the entry, descent and landing team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This landing zone in Jezero Crater is so treacherous that NASA nixed it for Curiosity, but so tantalizing that scientists are keen to get hold of its rocks. Perseverance is aiming for an ancient river delta that seems a logical spot for once harboring life. 'To say we're pumped about it, well that would be a huge understatement,' said Lori Glaze, NASA's planetary science director. Perseverance's $3 billion mission is the first leg in a U.S.-European effort to bring Mars samples to Earth in the next decade. The odds are in NASA's favor: It's nailed eight of its nine attempted Mars landings.ĭespite their differences - the 1-ton Perseverance is larger and more elaborate than the Tianwen-1 rover - both will prowl for signs of ancient microscopic life. rover Perseverance, by contrast, will dive in straight away for a harrowing sky-crane touchdown similar to the Curiosity rover's grand Martian entrance in 2012. If all goes well, it will be only the second country to land successfully on the Red Planet. That's why their arrivals are also close together.Ĭalled Amal, or Hope in Arabic, the Gulf nation's spacecraft is seeking an especially high orbit - 22,000 kilometers by 44,000 kilometers (13,500 by 27,000 miles) high - all the better to monitor the Martian weather.Ĭhina's duo - called Tianwen-1, or 'Quest for Heavenly Truth' - will remain paired in orbit until May, when the rover separates to descend to the dusty, ruddy surface. 'We are quite excited as engineers and scientists, at the same time quite stressed and happy, worried, scared,' said Omran Sharaf, project manager for the UAE.Īll three spacecraft rocketed away within days of one another last July, during an Earth-to-Mars launch window that occurs only every two years. China's first Mars mission, a joint effort with Russia in 2011, never made it past Earth's orbit. NASA's rover, the cosmic caboose, will arrive on the scene a week later, on February 18, to collect rocks for return to Earth - a key step in determining whether life ever existed at Mars.īoth the UAE and China are newcomers at Mars, where more than half of Earth's emissaries have failed. The United Arab Emirates' orbiter reaches Mars on Tuesday, followed less than 24 hours later by China's orbiter-rover combo. After hurtling hundreds of millions of kilometers through space since last summer, three robotic explorers are ready to hit the brakes at Mars.

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