The US space agency NASA has renamed its Mars 2020 mission as the “Perseverance rover”. NASA has planned to send this rover to the Red Planet MARS this summer.
To date, the project has been known only by its code name – Mars 2020. From now on, it will be referred to as the Perseverance rover.
The new name came out of a schools competition that drew 28,000 entries. The name was announced on March 5, 2020 by Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, during a celebration at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia.
About Perseverance rover
The Mars Perseverance rover mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet.
The objective of the Perseverance rover is to bring rocks back to Earth for study.
As per NASA, mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars.
The significance of this mission is that it takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself.
The rover will introduce a drill that can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a “cache” on the surface of Mars.
