After multiple delays due to technical issues, the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) is finally gearing up for its newest mission to Mars. The agency is set to blast off rover Perseverance from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida tomorrow at 7:30am EST. Given social distancing guidelines, folks unfortunately won't be able to witness the blast off in person. Don't despair just yet, though: the event will stream live online.
Below, we break it all down. Here is everything you should know about tomorrow's launch:
What exactly is happening? Perseverance is the fifth rover in NASA's lineup and, tomorrow, scientists will send it off to space.
Where is the rover going and why? Perseverance is traveling to Mars, where it will join another rover, this one named Curiosity, that has been on the planet since 2011. Both machines will study the makeup of the planet and look for signs of past and present life on Mars.
When will the rover reach Mars? Perseverance is expected to touch down on February 18, 2021.
When, exactly, is the launch taking place? It's all going down tomorrow, Thursday, July 30 at 7:30am EST.
Where can I watch the event? You can stream it live for free right here.
Anything else I should know? Yes. Perseverance is going to return a piece of meteorite that landed on planet Earth about a thousand years ago after being blasted off the Red Planet. Cool stuff indeed.
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