A rover is the planetary surface exploration device, designed to move across the solid surface or other planetary-mass heavenly bodies. Rovers create to land on another planet other than Earth, along with a lander-style spacecraft. Here, Rovers have wheels and specialize in moving around. Thus, they land on the surface of Mars and drive around to different spots. Here in this article,we explore the rovers in mars right now with clear note
Table of Contents
1. Sojourner Rover:
Marie Curie is the flight spare, a backup vehicle for the Sojourner rover that operated on Mars in 1997. It was the first to test a “rocker-bogie” mobility system designed to check rovers from pointing over in their exploration of the rock-strewn surface of Mars. It is 83 Martian days of operation, provided over 500 images, and collected chemical data from 16 locations.
The Sojourner Rover was launched on December 4, 1996, and landed successfully on July 4, 1997.
Thus, we lost the communications on September 27, 1997.
Purpose of Sojourner Rover:
Here, the Sojourner wasn’t alone on its journey to Mars. Then, it traveled within a spacecraft called a lander. Hence, the lander was shaped like a pyramid and was covers in airbags. The rover used instruments to study what the nearby Martian rocks and dirt made of them. Its lander collected information about winds and other weather factors on Mars.
2. Spirit Rover:
The Spirit is one of the two robotic rovers sent to Mars for NASA’s ambitious Mars Exploration Rover mission in 2003. Here, the Spirit rover was about the size of a golf cart and weighed nearly 185 kg. Thus, Spirit had operated for six years, two months, and 19 days, traveling 7.73 km across the Martian plains and collecting a treasure trove of data.
The Rover Spirit was launched on June 10, 2003, and landed successfully on January 4, 2004.
Communications we lost on March 22, 2010, and when Spirit got stuck in the sand trap on May 1, 2009.
Purpose of Spirit Rover:
A place where mineral deposits purpose that Mars had a wet history when Spirit landed at Gusev Crater. Here, Spirit and Opportunity are the twin geologists have both found reasonable evidence that:
- Here, Mars was wetter long ago.
- Conditions at Mars might have sustained microbial life if any existed.
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3. Opportunity Rover:
The Rovers of Mars Exploration have received their names from 9-year-old Sofi Collis, who was the winner of a naming contest NASA taken with assistance from the Planetary Society and sponsorship from toymaker Lego. Opportunity had covered 45 km over 14 years, records for distance driven and mission time spent on another planet.
The Opportunity Rover was launched on July 8, 2003, and landed successfully on January 25, 2004.
Communications we lost in June 2018, when a global dust storm swept across Mars, and the rover was finally announced dead in February 2019.
Purpose of Opportunity Rover:
Opportunity’s most significant scientific findings were confirming the presence of standing water on Mars for long periods. Opportunity obtained minerals that form where water flows on an open plain.
The rovers found evidence of past water. Maybe the most dramatic was the discovery by Opportunity of rocks, which appeared to have been laying down at the shoreline of an ancient body of salty water.
4. Curiosity Rover:
Curiosity is the most ambitious Mars mission still flown by NASA. It is about 3 meters long and weighs about 900 kg, making it the longest and heaviest rover on Mars. Curiosity found that early Mars might have supported life.
It can also find traces of organic molecules preserved in rock layers 3.5 billion years old, and there is the amount of methane in the Martian atmosphere varies with the seasons.
Thus, the Curiosity Rover was launched on November 26, 2011, and landed successfully on August 6, 2012.
Purpose of the Curiosity Rover:
Here, the wet environment and the presence of organic molecules in several rocks studied by Curiosity suggest that ancient Mars was habitable, capable of supporting life if it ever took hold. On Curiosity’s front are several ceramic blocks infused with artificial organic compounds under foil covers.
Curiosity is a rover sent to Mars to determine if the Red Planet ever had the proper conditions for microbial life to survive.
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5. Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity helicopter:
When Perseverance landed on February 18, it has been doing as much geology as possible by taking pictures of its surroundings and analyzing the rocks nearby. Perseverance also used the duplicate entry, descent, and landing (EDL) strategy as Curiosity. As planned, the rover arrived at Mars 6.5 months after liftoff, and Perseverance’s deep-space journey went smoothly.
Therefore, the Perseverance Rover was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed successfully on February 18, 2021.
Purpose of Perseverance Rover:
Perseverance boasts almost five times more cameras than the first Mars rover. Here, some of Perseverance’s cameras provide more color and 3D imaging than Curiosity can gather. Perseverance carries two microphones to transfer the sounds of the Red Planet back to Earth. Thus, a part of the EDL camera system and the other builts into SuperCam.
Curiosity’s main task requires assessing the habitability of ancient Mars, whereas Perseverance will hunt for evidence of ancient Martians.
5.1 Ingenuity helicopter:
Ingenuity features have specially made four carbon-fiber blades, arranged into two rotors that spin in opposite directions faster than a passenger helicopter on Earth. Ingenuity intends to demonstrate technologies needed for flying in the Martian atmosphere. The Mars helicopter Ingenuity brought a special tribute to the history of flight when it took to the skies of the Red Planet.
The Ingenuity helicopter launched on July 30, 2020, and landed on February 18, 2021.
Purpose of Ingenuity helicopter:
Engineers believed the “stability margin” built in the rotorcraft allowed Ingenuity to undergo significant errors without becoming unstable, including errors in timing. Ingenuity’s solar array successfully collected solar power and kept the craft warm and “alive” through the frigid Martian nights.
Here, Ingenuity is the first helicopter to fly on Mars, carried by NASA’s rover called Perseverance, launched in July last year. It helps to collect samples from the surface from locations where the rover cannot reach.
6. Zhurong Rover:
China’s first Mars rover is Zhurong and is part of the Tianwen-1 mission, the country’s first independent interplanetary excursion. Thus, China has released the first batch of science images from its Zhurong Mars rover and followed by its successful landing on the Red Planet on May 14. This is one of the rovers in mars right now from the Chinese country.
The Zhurong Rover was launched on July 23, 2020, and landed successfully on May 14, 2021.
Purpose of Zhurong Rover:
The rover is 1.8 meters tall and weighs 240 kilograms, making it comparable to NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed in 2004, but much smaller than the roughly 1-tonne, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. Here, the American rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance, Zhurong has a laser tool to zap rocks to assess their chemistry.
Zhurong assigned a remote camera about 10 meters from the landing platform, then withdrew to take a group portrait. Zhurong is notably smaller than the US’s Perseverance rover, exploring the planet with a tiny helicopter.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some most frequently asked questions roaming on the internet about mars rovers.
How does the Mars rover take a self-portrait?
Curiosity took the selfie using a Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera located on the end of its robotic arm. Thus, the camera provides a close-up view of sand grains and rock textures. Then, when the camera turns around, it’s able to snap selfies of the rover in action.
How do the Mars rovers communicate with Earth?
All the communication between Mars and Earth goes through satellites. For example, when we launched the MER (Mars Exploration Rover) mission, we had the X band system as the prime communication system with the Earth. In addition, each rover has a high gain microwave antenna that can transmit scientific data directly to Earth.
Why are Mars rovers important?
Several different types of spacecraft sent to the Red Planet over the years, but the spacecraft called landers provides photos and information from their landing spots on the surface of Mars. Thus, the Rovers have wheels and specialize in moving around. For example, a rover can drive around to different areas, studying the other chemicals in each rock.
Why are Mars rovers pictures black and white?
There are four cameras in the front and four in the back, and they’re used to take pictures of terrain near the wheels and nearby the rover. Several black and white images, such as the Hazcams or the Navcams, which come back from the rover, are from the engineering cameras.
Why are the Mars rovers so expensive?
The cost of Mars 2020 has been growing for a while, then the initial proposed cost for the rover, when they announced the mission in 2012, was $1.5 billion. Here, six years later, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showed that the cost had soared to $2.46 billion in 2018.
Conclusion
We hope the above piece of information will give you an idea about rovers in mars right now. Here, we have specified when it launches and the purpose of each Rovers on Mars. Therefore, you can also refer to these FAQs to know more about taking pictures, the Rovers’ cost, etc., the Red Planet.
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