NASA’s Mars rover gets a name:Perseverance

News:National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) has announced that the official name of its Mars 2020 rover will be ‘Perseverance.’

Facts:

About Perseverance Rover:

  • The mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet.
  • The rover weighs less than 2,300 pounds and is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
  • Objective:Studying Mars Habitability, Seeking Signs of Past Microbial Life, Collecting and Caching Samples and Preparing for Future Human Missions.

Note:NASA’s previous Mars rovers include Sojourner (1997), Spirit and Opportunity (2004) and Curiosity(exploring Mars since 2012).