Meet the Martians

[Cypress]

NASA's Perseverance rover on course for Mars landing this week, to search for signs of past life

NASA's $2.4 billion Perseverance rover will plunge into the red planet's atmosphere Thursday for an automated white-knuckle landing.

If it survives the "seven minutes of terror" from atmospheric entry to its rocket-powered touchdown in Jezero Crater, the nuclear-powered Perseverance will proceed on its mission to search for evidence of past microbial life in deposits left over from a now-vanished lake.

"Perseverance is our robotic astrobiologist, and it will be the first rover NASA has sent to Mars with the explicit goal of searching for signs of ancient life," said Robert Zurbuchen, NASA's chief of space operations.

"It will build upon what we currently know from our previous rovers, orbiters and landers. And it will attempt to answer an age-old question that has eluded humanity for generations: whether life has ever existed elsewhere beyond our own planet, our Earth."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbs...-perseverance/

[Cypress]

Despite the fact that Donald Trumpf and most conservatives hold goverment employees in utter contempt, I salute the government scientists, engineers, and administrators at NASA/JPL for our exceptional space exploration program.

[ThatOwlWoman]

Despite the fact that Donald Trumpf and most conservatives hold goverment employees in utter contempt, I salute the government scientists, engineers, and administrators at NASA/JPL for our exceptional space exploration program.

China and the UAE also have Mars-bound explorers on the way. Exciting times for science!

[Cypress]

China and the UAE also have Mars-bound explorers on the way. Exciting times for science!

incredible

I am keen for more missions to the Galilean moons, and Saturn's moon Titan!

[Cypress]

[Dutch Uncle]

Fingers crossed. Weather conditions are favorable.

https://www.space.com/perseverance-m...ather-forecast
Clouds or dust storms on Mars won't spoil the Perseverance rover's big landing today (Feb. 18), NASA scientists said.

After a seven-month trek from Earth to Mars, Perseverance is preparing for the most dangerous part of its mission: plunging through the thin Martian atmosphere without slamming into the surface of the Red Planet. Fortunately, scientists on the mission think that the weather shouldn't interfere with that perilous process.

"The weather conditions look pretty favorable for us right now," Allen Chen, who leads the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for Perseverance's entry, descent and landing, said during a virtual news conference held Wednesday. "There are some clouds that are out there and some polar cap edge storms, but nothing near our Jezero landing site," Chen said, referring to the crater where Perseverance will land.

You can watch the Mars landing live here and on Space.com's homepage, courtesy of NASA, beginning at 2:15 p.m. EST (1915 GMT). The landing is expected at 3:55 p.m. EST (2055 GMT).

[Dutch Uncle]

About the mission: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8863/sear...-mars-samples/

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will be the agency’s ninth mission to land on the Red Planet. Along with characterizing the planet’s geology and climate, and paving the way for human exploration beyond the Moon, the rover is focused on astrobiology, or the study of life throughout the universe. Perseverance is tasked with searching for telltale signs that microbial life may have lived on Mars billions of years ago. It will collect rock core samples in metal tubes, and future missions would return these samples to Earth for deeper study.

[Matt Dillon]

Despite the fact that Donald Trumpf and most conservatives hold goverment employees in utter contempt, I salute the government scientists, engineers, and administrators at NASA/JPL for our exceptional space exploration program.

All the former Nazis, huh?

[Cypress]

About the mission: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8863/sear...-mars-samples/

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will be the agency’s ninth mission to land on the Red Planet. Along with characterizing the planet’s geology and climate, and paving the way for human exploration beyond the Moon, the rover is focused on astrobiology, or the study of life throughout the universe. Perseverance is tasked with searching for telltale signs that microbial life may have lived on Mars billions of years ago. It will collect rock core samples in metal tubes, and future missions would return these samples to Earth for deeper study.

These Mars rovers are such an incredible feat of science, technology, and human vision, they should bring a tear to the eye of any authentic science geek

[Cypress]

All the former Nazis, huh?

My brother worked at JPL, and never met a Nazi as far as I know.

I acknowledge that you had to hop in your time machine and time-travel back 70 years to actually find a reason to complain about NASA, and their association with Werner von Braughn.

[ThatOwlWoman]

If any of you guys are ham operators, check this out!!!

https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2021...als-from-mars/

[Dutch Uncle]

These Mars rovers are such an incredible feat of science, technology, and human vision, they should bring a tear to the eye of any authentic science geek

Agreed. The 7 minutes of Terror is an amazing level of advanced tech.

https://www.space.com/perseverance-m...-landing-video

[Dutch Uncle]

My brother worked at JPL, and never met a Nazi as far as I know.

I acknowledge that you had to hop in your time machine and time-travel back 70 years to actually find a reason to complain about NASA, and their association with Werner von Braughn.

Don't worry about Matt. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't thread ban him since his posts are becoming increasingly angry and erratic. He probably thinks NASA is run by the Chinese.

[Matt Dillon]

My brother worked at JPL, and never met a Nazi as far as I know.

I acknowledge that you had to hop in your time machine and time-travel back 70 years to actually find a reason to complain about NASA, and their association with Werner von Braughn.

[Matt Dillon]

Don't worry about Matt. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't thread ban him since his posts are becoming increasingly angry and erratic. He probably thinks NASA is run by the Chinese.

You're just mad because I called out your traitorism, cocksucker! Madder than a wet hen and breaking your left mouse button spamming "report".
As for the OP, it's kinda neat we're actually going to see what's up with Mars!