PERCY

Mars...... A pale red dot in the night sky. The fourth planet from the Sun. The only planet in the Solar System to be the home of Robots...

Yes, Mars has been a source of study for so long. It has given  hostage to many rovers sent from Earth, Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Perseverance. Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity are no longer active while the later two are presently working on decoding formulae of life on Mars.

Perseverance - meaning, continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition - a perfect name for a rover, isn't it?

Nicknamed Percy, the rover touched down successfully on 19th Feb, this year. It was launched on 30th July 2020 with the rocket Atlas V (AV - 088) from the CCAFS Space Launch Complex 41 in Titusville, United States.

Percy is car sized, about 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall (about 3 metres long, 2.7 metres wide, and 2.2 metres tall). 

The rover landed in the Jevero crater, where a river and a deep lake existed billions of years ago. 

The Martian surface was said to be covered in water billions of years ago. This meant that life could be possible on its surface. So, the mission of Percy focuses on the surface based studies of the Martian environment. It will study rock samples with conditions that might have been favourable to microbial life. 

Operated by NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the MARS PERSEVERANCE ROVER is set to work for at least one Martian year i.e., nearly two earth years. But thanks to its plutonium - fueled power system, the rover could theoretically operate for more than a decade. 

Here are the high resolution pictures sent by the rover while and after touch down. 

Let's wish Percy a wonderful journey in her forever home, Mars, and to bring us a lot of information about the red planet.