MARS MISSIONS

Why is Mars at the center of space studies?

Humans have begun exploring Mars with robotic devices since the 1960s. Since then, joint missions of 7 countries (USA, Russia, China, Japan, Britain, India, United Arab Emirates) and the European Union have tried 49 missions for the Red Planet.

These missions; It involved different tasks, such as flying around the planet, landing on the Martian surface, and moving around the face.

However, only 40 percent of the landings were successful.

The last successful mission was the Perseverance vehicle, which landed on Mars last week. The vehicle landed on February 18, 2020 and shared the first photos from Mars.
Why is Mars at the center of space studies?

The Perseverance traveler will try to find the traces of these periods by researching the past of the Red Planet.

In particular, it will be looked at whether rocks formed in water or modified by water contain organic molecules, which are carbon-based chemical building blocks.

Also, the ability to generate oxygen from Mars’ carbon dioxide atmosphere will be tested to support future human missions.

There is also a teammate to accompany Perseverance on Mars. The Ingenuity helicopter will try to fly and explore Mars.

Helicopters will also have the advantage of being able to fly over dangerous terrain such as steep hills or craters that mobile robots cannot reach.