(intriguing music)
Release.
Did you happen to see it?
That right there is a ULA Atlas V rocket blasting off
on a historic mission to Mars.
Onboard is Perseverance, a rover designed
to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.
So let me show you the science
behind humanity's most sophisticated rover.
All right, let's go back to Mars,
because NASA's newest rover, Perseverance,
is scheduled to land in our neighboring red planet
in February of 2021.
Its new home: that Jezero Crater.
So the Jezero Crater formed billions of years ago,
and it was once a deep Lake,
roughly the size of, let's say, Lake Tahoe.
But the now ancient Lake, it's all dried up.
It's the perfect place to search
for preserved Martian and life.
And that is exactly what this remarkable scientific vehicle
will be looking for.
So there's a lot packed into this rover.
At the end of this seven-foot robotic arm,
it's just one of seven instruments
that's gonna allow Perseverance
to conduct first-of-its-kind research.
Though, let's talk about the super cam.
This thing can fire a laser
to study small rocks 20 feet away.
And then, the RIMFAX.
The RIMFAX can detect water 30 feet below the surface.
And then, of course ...
Of course Perseverance comes equipped
with its own weather station, right?
It's called the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer.
It's basically just like a weather station here on Earth,
samples wind, humidity, pressure, temperature,
because knowing the weather on Mars,
absolutely crucial to the study
and the safety of astronauts' future missions.
And if that weren't enough,
this rover comes equipped with it's ow ...
(helicopter whirring)
solar-powered helicopter, man!
Look at this thing!
It's named Ingenuity.
It spans roughly four feet across, weighs four pounds.
The atmosphere on Mars,
it's only 1% as thick as Earth's atmosphere,
so generating lift, it's much harder.
But conducting these flights,
it's gonna help scientists understand
what's possible for future travel around the Red Planet.
So as you can see, there is a lot to explore.
And we cannot wait for Perseverance to get out
and teach us more about Mars.
