Perseverance Is Part Of America’s Larger Moon To Mars Exploration Approach

NASA is targeting 7:50 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 30, for the launch of its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window is approximately two hours, with a launch opportunity every five minutes. The mission – designed to better understand the geology and climate of Mars and seek signs of ancient life on the Red Planet – will use the robotic scientist, which weighs just under 2,300 pounds and is the size of a small car, to collect and store a set of rock and soil samples that could be returned to Earth by future Mars sample return missions.

Using Same First Stage That Lofted Demo-2 To The ISS

SpaceX is targeting Monday, July 20 for Falcon 9’s launch of the ANASIS-II (Army/Navy/Air Force Satellite Information System 2) mission, which will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The primary launch window opens at 5:00 p.m. EDT, or 21:00 UTC, and closes at 8:55 p.m. EDT, or 00:55 UTC on July 21. Falcon 9’s first stage previously launched Crew Dragon to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board. If the launch occurs Monday, or at a soon-enough time later this month, the re-use will break the SpaceX record for the shortest turnaround between flights of the same first stage bo