NASA is seeking proposals for ground and flight demonstrations of integrated megawatt-class powertrain systems for subsonic aircraft. The deadline for proposals for this solicitation is 5 p.m. EST April 20.

The demonstrations will help rapidly mature and transition integrated Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technologies and associated EAP vision systems for introduction into the global fleet by 2035. Integrated EAP concepts are rapidly emerging as potentially transformative solutions to significantly improve the environmental sustainability of the next generation of subsonic transport vehicles. EAP electrical systems are being developed to replace or boost fuel-burning aircraft propulsion systems, analogous to how electric or hybrid motors are used in automobiles.

"The release of this request for proposals represents an important next step as NASA partners with industry to further mature critical EAP technologies through demonstrating integrated megawatt-class powertrain systems in flight," said Lee Noble, NASA's Integrated Aviation System Program director. "These flight demonstrations have strong applicability to sustainable and highly-efficient aircraft powertrain systems that will facilitate continued U.S. competitiveness for the next generation of commercial transport aircraft."

Though partnerships with U.S. industry, NASA intends to accelerate integrated megawatt-class powertrain system maturation and transition to the global fleet, as well as identify and address gaps in regulations and standards and acquire necessary ground and flight test data to advance design and modelling tools pertinent to future aircraft products with an EAP system.

NASA and industry studies have shown that EAP concepts can reduce energy use, carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions, and direct operating costs resulting in benefits for both the public and the airline operators. NASA and its industry partners have identified turboprops, regional jets, and single aisle aircraft serving the thin-haul (very short flights), regional, and single-aisle markets as targets of opportunity for this technology.

To turn the promise of EAP benefits into reality, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate has made a critical commitment to demonstrate practical vehicle-level integration of megawatt-class EAP systems, leveraging advanced airframe systems to reinvigorate the regional and emerging smaller aircraft markets, and to strengthen the single-aisle aircraft market. The Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project directly supports retaining U.S. leadership in the aerospace manufacturing sector, the largest net-exporter of all U.S. manufacturing sectors.



SOURCE NASA
Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov

Everything you wanted to know about pursuing a career in Architecture


Choosing a career path is never easy. But understanding the ins and outs and the pros and cons of a career that you are interested in can help you make a better career choice. Architecture is one of those careers that most of us have heard of but seem to have very little knowledge. If you wonder if architecture is a good career option – but more importantly, if it is the right career for you, this article aims to help you make an informed decision. Here's what you can expect from a career as an architect – you can decide if this is the career for you.

What is the day of an architect?

As an architect, your day is filled with business meetings, meeting with clients, developing plans, consulting with engineers, visiting construction sites, coordinating with on-site teams and off-location teams, and ensuring your team carries out your designs and plans precisely.

Architecture is not a job for someone who prefers to work out of an office or from home. This job is best for those who like to work in a team rather than alone, have no problem coordinating with several groups of people, and are willing to travel regularly to construction sites. The job also requires one to be proactive, creative, and have excellent problem-solving skills.

What kind of salary do architects make?

During the initial years, architects don't make much. But that does not mean that you won't get a chance to make money during your career as an architect. The more time you work as an architect, the more opportunity you will have to take home a more-than-average salary. The mean annual wage of architects in the United States has increased steadily year after year. According to the job site, Indeed, architects' average base salary in the United States in 2021 is $110,552 per year. Some cities like Dallas and Austin in Texas, Washington, DC, and Chicago, IL pay their architects more than that.

If you are a partner or a high-level manager with an architecture firm, you can make more than what most people in the United States make every year. If you are exceptional at your job, you could land up in the category of "rich" people. However, remember that it takes years to make this kind of money, and you must be patient until then.

Is there a need for architects in the United States?

When selecting a career, it's natural to pursue one that is in demand. Nobody wants to pursue a career that leads nowhere. While some jobs are dying, it’s not the case with architects. In the United States, there is still a growing need for architects. Architecture is a highly regulated profession and the industry is constantly growing. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics states there will be a 0.8% increase in architects' employment from 2019 to 2029.

Will you still have employment in 2029? Yes, but you must be willing to:

B&H is excited to announce the Sony FX3 Cinema Camera; an especially compact full-frame camera that mixes Cinema Line capabilities with the portability and versatility of an Alpha camera. Straddling these two lines from Sony, the FX3 features a familiar set of recording capabilities but sports an all-new body design that emphasizes solo, handheld shooting in a minimalist manner.


Key Features

Sony Electronics Inc. today announced the FX3 (model ILME-FX3) camera that combines the best of Sony's industry-leading digital cinema technology with advanced imaging features from Alpha™ brand mirrorless cameras to make Sony's coveted cinematic look accessible to more creators.

As the latest addition to Sony's Cinema Line, the FX3 delivers a cinematic look and professional operability and reliability in a camera that is accessible to early-career creators, as well as suitable to be used alongside Sony's VENICE, FX9 and FX6 cameras. The new model provides outstanding image quality and usability for small scale and one-person shooting. The FX3 boasts industry-leading autofocus capabilities, 5-axis in-body image stabilization with Active modev, handheld shooting design and advanced heat dissipation for extended recording times. All this is combined in a compact, lightweight body that provides the performance and mobility to meet the growing demands of today's content creators.

"The FX3 is the perfect tool for content creators looking to enter the world of cinematography," said Neal Manowitz, deputy president for Imaging Products and Solutions Americas at Sony Electronics. "It combines everything our customers love about Sony's video capabilities in our Alpha lineup with a new body optimized for videography. We are excited to add to Sony's Cinema Line and continue to support the world's creators with the best tools possible."

Cinematic Look

There is no way you can compare some classes with the live ones. It is different from the other because you're by yourself, and there's no one to correct you directly when you make any mistake. Most students find it hard to focus when attending an online class. Technology is changing, and that means the education sector is also changing. If you're a student, you have to know the best way to attend an online class without failure or making any mistakes. If you follow all the tips, there is no way online lessons will be challenging for you. For example, you can buy dissertation and make a great presentation that everyone will be surprised. Your concentration will be top-notch, and you'll be able to focus without any difficulty.


Zoom Etiquette

If you think there are no rules when going for online classes. You're mistaken. Rules do not change. The ones that apply to your life classes are the same that you will use during the online sessions. If you're not familiar with the rules, here is a list;

- Always be polite at all costs and not utter a word if it is not time for you to speak. For example, when you're on a call, you have to wait for the other party to talk so that you can reply. That is what you have to do when you are attending an online session. You can only speak when it's your turn to either ask or answer a question.

- Do not fail to mute the microphone. It will help because you will not be able to disturb other members with noises. You have to give people the chance to concentrate on what the teacher is sharing. You can only do that by muting your microphone.

- You have to ensure that you follow all the guidelines given to you by the teacher. If you're not supposed to talk in any way, make sure you do that without fail. There's no need to attend a class if you are not ready to follow all the instructions. To be on the safe side, you have to plan yourself early before the session starts.

- Avoid making fun of both your professor and classmates. If you're not ready to learn, do not waste time on other people. If you want to pull a prank on anyone, think twice because that is a wrong decision.


Finding a Perfect Spot

If you want to concentrate well throughout the session, you need to find a great spot with no distractions. There are things that you have to consider when setting your study space;

-Enough lighting. There's no way you can be attentive in a room with less lighting. You will only be lying to yourself. If you are studying during the day, ensure that should do it close to the window, and if you have to attend your classes at night, you need to use good bulbs. You cannot use a blue bulb when attending a session because you'll be in your own world. You have to get a bulb that will make you concentrate.

- Avoid distracting noises. Do not set your pace where they are a lot of distractions. Before you start the session, ensure that you close the door and tell the people present in the house not to distract you.

New video from NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover chronicles major milestones during the final minutes of its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 as the spacecraft plummeted, parachuted, and rocketed toward the surface of Mars. A microphone on the rover also has provided the first audio recording of sounds from Mars.

From the moment of parachute inflation, the camera system covers the entirety of the descent process, showing some of the rover's intense ride to Mars' Jezero Crater. The footage from high-definition cameras aboard the spacecraft starts 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface, showing the supersonic deployment of the most massive parachute ever sent to another world, and ends with the rover's touchdown in the crater.

A microphone attached to the rover did not collect usable data during the descent, but the commercial off-the-shelf device survived the highly dynamic descent to the surface and obtained sounds from Jezero Crater on Feb. 20. About 10 seconds into the 60-second recording, a Martian breeze is audible for a few seconds, as are mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface.

A microphone attached to the rover did not collect usable data during the descent, but the commercial off-the-shelf device survived the highly dynamic descent to the surface and obtained sounds from Jezero Crater on Feb. 20. About 10 seconds into the 60-second recording, a Martian breeze is audible for a few seconds, as are mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface.

A ceremony in the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Poland, saw the attendance of a limited number of senior personnel from the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Formula One team – with media, fans and employees being invited to watch virtually in respect of the local COVID-19 regulations. Team drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi and reserve driver Robert Kubica entered the stage as the C41, in a striking new livery, was shown for the first time.

Featuring a new color scheme designed by Alfa Romeo's Centro Stile and featuring the now traditional red and white colors of the team, the car, designed under the coordination of Technical Director Jan Monchaux, represents an evolution of the C39 that competed in the 2020 season. Owing to the restrictions imposed by the regulations, the car carries over many of the components of its predecessor, while still standing out with its renewed appearance, in particular in regard to the nosecone, an area on which the team chose to focus its development tokens. Under the bodywork lies a new Ferrari engine, ready to rev in less than a week when the team embarks on a new season with the C41's shakedown in Barcelona on Friday.

The Alfa Romeo logo is flanked by the Quadrifoglio (four-leaf clover) traditionally associated with Alfa Romeo's racing efforts, and the logo of Autodelta, the brand's legendary racing team. These logos adorn the bodywork, contributing to the creation of one of the standout cars on the grid – a classic design that embodies the passion and tradition of the marques it represents.

Alfa Romeo once again partners with Sauber Motorsport for the 2021 Formula One World Championship. The partnership between two of the most recognized brands in motorsport started in 2018, when Alfa Romeo joined the team as title sponsor. In the three years of operative collaboration so far, the team has achieved important results. True to its long-lasting spirit of competitiveness, Alfa Romeo takes on the challenge once more.

Alfa Romeo and Sauber Group partnership extends beyond racing. The collaboration, both technical and commercial, allows Sauber Engineering's technical expertise to be transferred to Alfa Romeo road car production. In particular, the Giulia GTA project benefits from this long-standing partnership, leveraging the technical know-how of Sauber AG Engineering and Aerodynamics divisions. Alfa Romeo entrusted Sauber Engineering with the production of most of the carbon components in the GTA and GTAm, especially those with aerodynamic impact.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG: "The launch of a new car is always an emotional moment, the culmination of months of effort from everyone back at the factory and the start of a new adventure. I think the philosophy upon which the team is based remains the same - we have to do a better job tomorrow than we are doing today. We finished last season in P8, so we have to target a better result in 2021. To do so, we have to keep improving in each department, trackside and back at HQ. Every team on the grid has very high expectations right now: all the teams expect to do a good job in the winter and to be in a good position for the first race, but soon it will be the time for everyone to show their cards."

Jan Monchaux, Technical Director Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN: "The C41 is the result of a very unusual situation in Formula One, in which the regulations have made us unable to develop an entire new car for this year. For this reason, our 2021 car shares a lot of common parts with the C39, with the exception of those which the regulations forced us to change – such as the floor – and the nosecone, in which we invested our two development tokens. This means we will know the car much better than usual when we get to testing, but it's still going to be crucial to make the most of those three days to verify that reality matches our expectations and to get to know the new tires. We are ready for the new season and we can't wait to see our new car on track."

SOURCE Stellantis
Related Links

http://www.stellantis.com

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is en route to the International Space Station with approximately 8,000 pounds of science investigations and cargo after launching at 12:36 p.m. EST Saturday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. About three hours after launch, the spacecraft's solar arrays successfully deployed to collect sunlight to power Cygnus on its journey to the space station.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency's website will provide live coverage of the spacecraft's approach and arrival beginning at 3 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22. Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the space station around 4:40 a.m.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi will use the space station's robotic Canadarm2 to capture Cygnus upon its arrival, while NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins monitors telemetry during rendezvous, capture, and installation on the Unity module's Earth-facing port.

Northrop Grumman's 15th cargo flight to the space station is the fourth under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA. Cygnus launched on an Antares 230+ rocket from the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0A at Wallops.

The resupply flight will support dozens of new and existing investigations. Included in the scientific investigations Cygnus is delivering to the space station are:


Using worms to learn about muscle loss

Roush Fenway Racing today announced that the team has become the first carbon neutral NASCAR race team, powered by its official sponsor Castrol. Throughout the 2021 NASCAR season, Castrol will power the Roush Fenway team by supporting Roush Fenway's carbon reduction and offset programs across their operations both on and off the track.

"As an organization, Roush Fenway has always been environmentally conscious," said Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark. "Our hope with this program is to demonstrate that every business, small or large, and regardless of industry, can contribute to address global climate challenges. We hope to set an example and highlight that small steps by many can make a real difference."

Roush Fenway has achieved carbon neutrality for the entire organization including operations, the two race teams and race cars for the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020, according to the PAS 2060 standard as verified by ERM CVS (independent 3rd party).

The partnership between Roush Fenway and Castrol is designed to help the team better manage its greenhouse gas emissions by tracking, quantifying, and reducing those emissions, and offsetting the balance with high-quality carbon offsets.

"At Castrol, we believe that small steps together can make a difference," said Castrol's Vice President of Marketing Rayne Pacek. "We want to play our part and teaming up with Roush Fenway to achieve their carbon neutral ambitions is a notable milestone in the sport and another step in supporting our partners in their efforts to drive change."

In addition to working with Roush Fenway, Castrol plans to drive change by expanding its carbon neutral product range, reducing the carbon used in its production, and offering a new and expanded range of services – all to give consumers and customers more lower carbon choices.

"It's an honor to pave the way in the sport and bring awareness to the importance of reducing your carbon footprint," said Roush Fenway Driver Ryan Newman. "Every business can make choices to help promote a more sustainable future and this program makes me proud to be part of a team that takes the initiative to drive change."

As part of the program, Newman's traditionally green and red Castrol No 6. Ford Mustang will don an all-white paint scheme featuring a grey Castrol badge and muted logos from partners like Ford Motor Company, Kohler Generators, Oscar Mayer, Coca-Cola, Guaranteed Rate, MacTools, and Wyndham Rewards to show their support of the initiative. This paint scheme will be used at the Daytona Road Course on Sunday, February 21, 2021.

The initiative is part of Castrol's ongoing relationship with Roush Fenway and is another step towards supporting its partners in achieving their lower carbon ambitions. Consumers interested in learning more about Roush Fenway carbon neutral initiative powered by Castrol can visit Castrol.com/DrivingForChange. Visitors can also enter for a chance to win Ryan Newman race-used gear following the Daytona Road Race on February 21, 2021.

bp.com

SOURCE Castrol

Less than a day after NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars, engineers and scientists at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were hard at work, awaiting the next transmissions from Perseverance. As data gradually came in, relayed by several spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet, the Perseverance team were relieved to see the rover's health reports, which showed everything appeared to be working as expected.

Adding to the excitement was a high-resolution image taken during the rover's landing. While NASA's Mars Curiosity rover sent back a stop-motion movie of its descent, Perseverance's cameras are intended to capture video of its touchdown and this new still image was taken from that footage, which is still being relayed to Earth and processed.

Unlike with past rovers, the majority of Perseverance's cameras capture images in color. After landing, two of the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) captured views from the front and rear of the rover, showing one of its wheels in the Martian dirt. Perseverance got a close-up from NASA's eye in the sky, as well: NASA's Mars Reconnaissance. Orbiter, which used a special high-resolution camera to capture the spacecraft sailing into Jezero Crater, with its parachute trailing behind. The High Resolution Camera Experiment (HiRISE) camera did the same for Curiosity in 2012. JPL leads the orbiter's mission, while the HiRISE instrument is led by the University of Arizona.

Several pyrotechnic charges are expected to fire later on Friday, releasing Perseverance's mast (the "head" of the rover) from where it is fixed on the rover's deck. The Navigation Cameras (Navcams), which are used for driving, share space on the mast with two science cameras: the zoomable Mastcam-Z and a laser instrument called SuperCam. The mast is scheduled to be raised Saturday, Feb. 20, after which the Navcams are expected to take panoramas of the rover's deck and its surroundings.

In the days to come, engineers will pore over the rover's system data, updating its software and beginning to test its various instruments. In the following weeks, Perseverance will test its robotic arm and take its first, short drive. It will be at least one or two months until Perseverance will find a flat location to drop off Ingenuity, the mini-helicopter attached to the rover's belly, and even longer before it finally hits the road, beginning its science mission and searching for its first sample of Martian rock and sediment.

More About the Mission

A primary objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology research, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), will send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter technology demonstration for NASA.

For more images from Perseverance, go to:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/perseverance-mars-rovers-first-images

For more about Perseverance:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

and

https://nasa.gov/perseverance

SOURCE NASA
Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov

Three crew members from Expedition 64 will conduct two spacewalks working in pairs Sunday, Feb. 28, and Friday, March 5, to continue upgrades on the International Space Station. NASA will discuss the upcoming spacewalks during a news conference at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Live coverage of the briefing and spacewalks will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

With safety restrictions related to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, NASA centers will be unable to host reporters on-site. Reporters who wish to participate by telephone must call the newsroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at 281-483-5111 to RSVP no later than 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA.

News conference participants include:
Kenny Todd, deputy manager, International Space Station Program
Marcos Flores, March 5 spacewalk flight director
Chris Edelen, Feb. 28 spacewalk flight director
Art Thomason, spacewalk officer

Live coverage of the Sunday, Feb. 28, spacewalk will begin at 4:30 a.m., with the crew members scheduled to exit the station's Quest airlock about 6:00 a.m. Coverage of the spacewalk on Friday, March 5, will begin at 5:30 a.m., with the astronauts exiting the hatch about 7:00 a.m. Each spacewalk will last approximately six and a half hours.

NASA flight engineers Kate Rubins and Victor Glover, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, will conduct the upcoming spacewalks, which will be the 235th and 236th in the history of station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

On Sunday, Feb. 28, Rubins and Glover will step out of the space station to begin assembling and installing modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades. The current solar arrays are functioning well, but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected, as they were designed for a 15-year service life. The first pair of solar arrays were deployed in December 2000 and have been powering the station for more than 20 years. Later this year, the new solar arrays will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station's total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts. Rubins will be extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) wearing red stripes. Glover will be extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and wear a suit with no stripes.

On Friday, March 5, Rubins and Noguchi will venture outside the orbiting outpost to vent ammonia from the Early Ammonia System and complete several other tasks. The pair will install a "stiffener" on the Quest airlock thermal cover to prevent it from blowing out when residual atmosphere escapes as the hatch is opened. Glover began addressing this issue on a previous spacewalk by installing a stronger magnet to keep the cover closed. The crew also will remove and replace a wireless video transceiver assembly. Rubins will be EV 1 and Noguchi will be EV 2.

These spacewalks will be the third and fourth in Rubins' career. Glover has conducted two spacewalks as part of this expedition, making the spacewalk on Feb. 28 the third in his career. The March 5 spacewalk will be the fourth in Noguchi's career.

In November 2020, the International Space Station surpassed its 20-year milestone of continuous human presence, providing opportunities for unique research and technological demonstrations that help prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars and also improve life on Earth. In that time, 242 people from 19 countries have visited the orbiting laboratory that has hosted nearly 3,000 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.


SOURCE NASA
Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov

The largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world touched down on Mars Thursday, after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million kilometers). Confirmation of the successful touchdown was announced in mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California at 3:55 p.m. EST (12:55 p.m. PST).

Packed with groundbreaking technology, the Mars 2020 mission launched July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover mission marks an ambitious first step in the effort to collect Mars samples and return them to Earth.

"This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally – when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks," said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission embodies our nation's spirit of persevering even in the most challenging of situations, inspiring, and advancing science and exploration. The mission itself personifies the human ideal of persevering toward the future and will help us prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet in the 2030s."

About the size of a car, the 2,263-pound (1,026-kilogram) robotic geologist and astrobiologist will undergo several weeks of testing before it begins its two-year science investigation of Mars' Jezero Crater. While the rover will investigate the rock and sediment of Jezero's ancient lakebed and river delta to characterize the region's geology and past climate, a fundamental part of its mission is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. To that end, the Mars Sample Return campaign, being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), will allow scientists on Earth to study samples collected by Perseverance to search for definitive signs of past life using instruments too large and complex to send to the Red Planet.

"Because of today's exciting events, the first pristine samples from carefully documented locations on another planet are another step closer to being returned to Earth," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA. "Perseverance is the first step in bringing back rock and regolith from Mars. We don't know what these pristine samples from Mars will tell us. But what they could tell us is monumental – including that life might have once existed beyond Earth."

Some 28 miles (45 kilometers) wide, Jezero Crater sits on the western edge of Isidis Planitia, a giant impact basin just north of the Martian equator. Scientists have determined that 3.5 billion years ago the crater had its own river delta and was filled with water.

The power system that provides electricity and heat for Perseverance through its exploration of Jezero Crater is a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided it to NASA through an ongoing partnership to develop power systems for civil space applications.

Equipped with seven primary science instruments, the most cameras ever sent to Mars, and its exquisitely complex sample caching system – the first of its kind sent into space – Perseverance will scour the Jezero region for fossilized remains of ancient microscopic Martian life, taking samples along the way.

"Perseverance is the most sophisticated robotic geologist ever made, but verifying that microscopic life once existed carries an enormous burden of proof," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division. "While we'll learn a lot with the great instruments we have aboard the rover, it may very well require the far more capable laboratories and instruments back here on Earth to tell us whether our samples carry evidence that Mars once harbored life."

Paving the Way for Human Missions

"Landing on Mars is always an incredibly difficult task and we are proud to continue building on our past success," said JPL Director Michael Watkins. "But, while Perseverance advances that success, this rover is also blazing its own path and daring new challenges in the surface mission. We built the rover not just to land but to find and collect the best scientific samples for return to Earth, and its incredibly complex sampling system and autonomy not only enable that mission, they set the stage for future robotic and crewed missions."

The Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite collected data about Mars' atmosphere during entry, and the Terrain-Relative Navigation system autonomously guided the spacecraft during final descent. The data from both are expected to help future human missions land on other worlds more safely and with larger payloads.

On the surface of Mars, Perseverance's science instruments will have an opportunity to scientifically shine. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable science cameras on Perseverance's remote sensing mast, or head, that creates high-resolution, color 3D panoramas of the Martian landscape. Also located on the mast, the SuperCam uses a pulsed laser to study the chemistry of rocks and sediment and has its own microphone to help scientists better understand the property of the rocks, including their hardness.

Located on a turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) and the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instruments will work together to collect data on Mars' geology close-up. PIXL will use an X-ray beam and suite of sensors to delve into a rock's elemental chemistry. SHERLOC's ultraviolet laser and spectrometer, along with its Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) imager, will study rock surfaces, mapping out the presence of certain minerals and organic molecules, which are the carbon-based building blocks of life on Earth.

The rover chassis is home to three science instruments, as well. The Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) is the first ground-penetrating radar on the surface of Mars and will be used to determine how different layers of the Martian surface formed over time. The data could help pave the way for future sensors that hunt for subsurface water ice deposits.

Also with an eye on future Red Planet explorations, the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) technology demonstration will attempt to manufacture oxygen out of thin air – the Red Planet's tenuous and mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere. The rover's Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument, which has sensors on the mast and chassis, will provide key information about present-day Mars weather, climate, and dust.

Currently attached to the belly of Perseverance, the diminutive Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration that will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Project engineers and scientists will now put Perseverance through its paces, testing every instrument, subsystem, and subroutine over the next month or two. Only then will they deploy the helicopter to the surface for the flight test phase. If successful, Ingenuity could add an aerial dimension to exploration of the Red Planet in which such helicopters serve as a scouts or make deliveries for future astronauts away from their base.

Once Ingenuity's test flights are complete, the rover's search for evidence of ancient microbial life will begin in earnest.

"Perseverance is more than a rover, and more than this amazing collection of men and women that built it and got us here," said John McNamee, project manager of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. "It is even more than the 10.9 million people who signed up to be part of our mission. This mission is about what humans can achieve when they persevere. We made it this far. Now, watch us go."

More About the Mission

A primary objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology research, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA, will send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter technology demonstration for NASA.

For more about Perseverance:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

and

https://nasa.gov/perseverance

SOURCE NASA
Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov