The Perseverance rover is operating in the Jezero crater region of Mars. Scientists believe that billions of years ago there was a lake and a river delta. To collect samples, the rover is scratching the surface of this region and collecting samples. After bringing them to Earth, scientists will be able to know whether there are signs of life on Mars.
As part of this intriguing mission, the first year in 2026, SRL was to take a NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and an ESA-built Fetch rover to Mars. The Fetch rover was to deliver the sample container taken by Perseverance to the MAV. After this, the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter would return to Earth by the year 2031, taking samples from MAV.
But now NASA is planning to use a dual-lander architecture. Due to this the already fixed dates have been pushed forward. That is, the launch date of SRL has been shifted to the year 2028 and the sample return can be done till 2033. NASA says that this will improve the chances of success of the mission.
However, this is not the only mission that NASA has delayed. The timeline of her more ambitious plan – Artemis I – continues to grow. Under the Artemis mission, there is a plan to once again send humans to the Moon. This mission was supposed to launch in November last year, but now it is summer time this year.
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