One of humanity's greatest dreams has always been to know and explore other worlds, which is why large amounts of money have been invested to be able to leave our globe and find life beyond Earth.
But traveling to other worlds is not something simple: apart from large amounts of money, time and dedication, special equipment is required to withstand the conditions existing on other planets, because as we well know, they are nothing like those on Earth. .
Another factor that greatly influences is distance, since the planets are too far from each other and this factor is of utmost importance when going out to explore other worlds.
One of the space agencies that is in charge of these explorations is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which has sent several missions into space that help us learn more about everything that is outside our terrestrial environment.
On February 18, 2021, NASA launched the mission Mars 2020, with the aim of exploring the Red Planet, using the Perserverance rover. This rover looks similar to Curiosity; Perseverance carries with it 7 scientific instruments to study the Martian surface, 23 cameras and 2 microphones.
The objectives of this mission are 4: the search for possible habitability to house microbial life; the search for biosignatures or possible signs of microbial life in these habitable environments, especially in rocks; store these samples (soil, rocks) and prepare the way a little for humans, testing the generation of oxygen on the surface of Mars from CO2 atmospheric.
It is precisely about this mission that NASA has a very important announcement to make today, since, throughout the mission, numerous samples have been collected that are interesting for scientists, because some of them probably contain signs of microbial life and these will be back on Earth for study through the mission Mars Sample Return.
Today, NASA will organize a press conference where it will present the progress of this mission and the next steps to take with it.
“Sample return from Mars has been an important long-term goal of international planetary exploration over the past two decades,” comments the Agency. “NASA's Perseverance rover is collecting compelling scientific samples that will help scientists understand the geological history of Mars, the evolution of its climate, and prepare for future human explorers. “The return of the samples will also help NASA search for signs of ancient life.”
The reason for the rock samples collected on Mars, back in the 2030s, is that the mission is at risk of being canceled due to its high costs, so plans need to be restructured in order to continue. with this mission.
For this reason, NASA makes the statement that the mission is stopped for a moment, but will not be canceled, but the fear remains that the samples that have been collected will be abandoned. NASA faces a budget cut of 454 million dollars for 2024, so the decision was made to reduce expenses and layoffs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, responsible for directing the mission.
“Independent review boards help us ensure that we are on the right path to achieve mission objectives within the planned budget,” explained Sandra Connelly, deputy administrator of NASA.
However, despite the difficulties, the announcement that NASA will make today provides new hope that the mission will not be canceled, so we can look forward to any progress within this mission. If you want to see the conference live, you can enter through this link.
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