Off To Mars, Again!

3-2-1, liftoff! NASA’s new Mars rover, Perseverance, took off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 30th, today, at 7:50 EDT, heading to, of course, Mars!

The car-sized rover is now zipping through space in it’s “transportation rocket”, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

At the same time, 2 other spacecrafts, one from China and the other from the Arab world, are also heading to Mars, and the 3 are planned to arrive in February 2021, to search for ancient life.

Why all at this time? Because Earth and Mars are closest right now, so through this particular route, rockets can reach Mars without too much fuel.

There, the Mars rover Perseverance will collect samples to bring back on future missions.

You have been reading a production of the New News Newshour, I’m Tigger, in China.