An Atlas V rocket launches on Thursday morning carrying Mars Perseverance. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann ]
Thursday 8am ET Replace: An Atlas V rocket efficiently launched the Mars Perseverance mission into orbit Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Pressure Station in Florida. The rocket’s higher stage has made the primary of its two firings.
To obtain Earth-escape velocity, a second firing will finish about 53 minutes after liftoff, after which the spacecraft will likely be launched on its journey to Mars. It can arrive in February, at which period NASA will try to land its heaviest ever rover on the pink planet.
Unique put up: NASA is about able to ship its largest and most succesful rover to Mars. With a mass of 1.025 metric tons, the Perseverance rover is about 14 % extra cumbersome than its predecessor, Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012.
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