The Mars rover has a Florida connection. Here’s what you should know before it lands
It’s a big day for space exploration.
That’s because the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which launched from Florida last year, is expected to land on Mars at 3:55 p.m. Thursday after a seven-month journey.
The rover, which will be there for at least one Mars year (two earth years), will search for signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil).
And the best part: Anyone can follow along with the countdown and watch the landing. It will be shown NASA TV Public Channel, the agency’s website, as well as NASA’s App, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion and THETA.TV.
Florida connections
▪ The the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launched July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County. According to NASA, the rover launched on an Atlas V-541 rocket, one of the largest rockets available, from Launch Complex 41.
▪ Nearly 11 million names from Florida and around the world are taking the trip to Mars as part of NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign. People were asked to submit their names to ride aboard. The agency said 10,932,295 people did and the names were stenciled by electron beam onto chips. In March, the chips were attached to an aluminum plate at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
▪ Students from Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland are working on creating a Mars rover for the Florida Space Institute as part of the university’s capstone design program. The program pairs corporate and research partners with students in order to tackle different problems.
▪ Special Mars doughnuts landed at Krispy Kreme doughnut shops across the country Thursday. The doughnut, decorated with a red planet and sprinkles, is chocolate cream and dipped in caramel icing. The catch: It’s only available for one day. And by noon, most of the South Florida shops were sold out.
▪ Students from Florida and around the world will “land” with the rover Thursday. More than 900,000 students are participating in NASA’s Mission to Mars Student Challenge. Beginning in January, NASA led students through exercises to “design, build, launch, and land a Mars mission.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 12:45 PM.
