NASA is on a hunt for alien life, as it sends the Perseverance Rover to Mars in search of evidence. The rover is scouring the planet with its cutting-edge radar.
US Space Agency NASA reports that Perseverance Rover will be making a successful landing on the Martian surface soon. The rover will wander on the red planet in the hope of finding sustainability and help the scientist dig deeper into its surface.
All about the Perseverance Rover
Perseverance Rover by NASA will land in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater in February. Then, the rover will carry out the most ambitious search for alien life yet. Also, aiding it on this mission is a myriad of technology. Consequently, this tech is designed to find signs of life on the surface and underground.
The six-wheeled rover will peer under the surface of Mars using a ground-penetrating radar called RIMFAX.
Several probes circling the Red Planet have found similar instruments, such as NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
NASA tells what to expect
Perseverance Rover will show the first ground-penetrating radar to the planet’s surface. This data will give scientists a much clearer picture of what is hiding beneath the Mars surface and give scientists an idea of how Jezero took shape over time.
I'm getting closer to Mars. Once there, I will use my “radar eyes” to see what’s beneath the surface.
My ground-penetrating radar can see at least 30 feet (10 meters) down to help search for signs of past microbial life. #CountdownToMars
More on RIMFAX: https://t.co/KgAZ6UsSzy pic.twitter.com/jZCrhcNB60
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) October 8, 2020
Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment hopes to provide detailed views of the subsurface to depths of about 30ft (10m).
In doing so, the radar will reveal the various layers that could hold clues about Mars’s ancient geology and environment.
In particular, it might shed light on whether the planet could have once hosted life.
Svein-Erik Hamran, the RIMFAX primary investigator at the University of Oslo in Norway, said, “We plan to take an image of the subsurface directly beneath the rover.”
High hopes for the Alien Hunt
In 2018, NASA chief Dr. Ellen Stofan testified before a US Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. She expressed that she believed that humankind would find the evidence of life one day.
The only caveat? Dr. Stofan argued it would take a lot of digging to find it.
NASA’s Perseverance will aid the effort by the rover as well. They will drill into the ground to collect and analyze soil and rock samples.
What NASA has to say
The US space agency is even hopeful follow-up missions to Mars will retrieve these samples for return to Earth.
NASA said, “The rover’s astrobiology mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life, characterize the planet’s climate and geology and collect samples for a future return to Earth.”
“Perseverance will gather knowledge about and demonstrate the viability of technologies. These will aim to address the challenges of future human expeditions to Mars.”
Although Mars is a lonely and barren planet today, scientists believe it resembled young Earth billions of years ago.
This sign means the planet had a thick and humid atmosphere and running water on its surface.
These conditions may have been just right for simple, microbial life to develop.
Image courtesy of Merlin74/Shutterstock