US Embarks on Grand Quest to Find Life on Mars (Comprehensive Report 2)

Perseverance Landing Success... NASA Researchers Cheer Together
Mission to Search for Ancient Life Traces on Mars Begins
Soil Sample Collection Mission for Future Return to Earth Also Underway
Experiment Conducted to Determine if Habitable Environment Can Be Created on Mars
Biden: "Today Shows There Are No Limits to American Science and Technology"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] "The Perseverance has landed safely."

At 3:55 PM Eastern Time on the 18th, Swati Mohan, the flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, officially confirmed the Perseverance rover's landing on Mars, prompting NASA researchers gathered in the control room to erupt in applause and cheers.

The United States' fifth Mars rover, Perseverance, has landed on Mars and begun its mission to search for signs of ancient life. Perseverance will conduct sample collection to eventually bring soil samples directly back to Earth, as well as experiments to convert carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. If successful, this mission will mark a groundbreaking achievement in Mars exploration and demonstrate the feasibility of creating a human-habitable environment on Mars.

On the 18th (local time), researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory located in Pasadena, California, USA, cheered immediately after the successful landing of the Perseverance Mars rover on Mars. Pasadena, USA ? AFP United, Photo by AFP

Steve Jurczyk, Acting NASA Administrator, stated, "This landing is a historic moment for humanity's space exploration and for the United States and NASA," adding, "It represents our aspirations for the future of humanity and marks the starting point of the journey to send humans to Mars."

NASA plans to invest a total of $2.75 billion (approximately 3 trillion KRW), including $2.2 billion (about 2.4 trillion KRW) in development costs, for the Perseverance mission.

U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted shortly after the successful Mars landing of Perseverance, saying, "Today is a historic day," and "It shows that with American science and technology, nothing is impossible."

◇ The Most Advanced Mars Rover, Equipped with a Flying Drone = Perseverance was launched on July 30 last year and traveled 471 million kilometers to reach Mars. The rover successfully passed the landing process known as the "seven minutes of terror," the most dangerous phase during Mars entry. This phase is called the seven minutes of terror because the communication delay between Earth and Mars is about 11 minutes, meaning NASA cannot directly control the landing process that takes seven minutes.

Regarded as the most technologically advanced Mars rover in history, Perseverance is equipped with various cameras, lasers, and sensors to analyze Martian soil and atmosphere. Its most notable feature is the inclusion of the flying drone "Ingenuity." If Ingenuity manages to fly on Mars, it will become the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet. Ingenuity will fly overhead and help map Perseverance's navigation path.

On the 18th (local time), a billboard in Times Square, New York, USA, displayed the real-time landing progress of Perseverance ahead of its Mars landing. New York, USA = EPA Photo

The landing site of Perseverance is the Jezero Crater, known as an ancient delta on Mars. This area consists of depressions, cliffs, and gravel beds and is believed to have had flowing water about 3.9 billion years ago. If life ever existed on Mars, microbial traces are expected to be found in this region.

Another goal of this mission is to collect soil samples for future direct return to Earth. Until now, all Mars exploration missions involved rovers analyzing soil on Mars and sending data back to Earth. However, bringing soil samples directly to Earth will allow analysis without the constraints of time and space.

Accordingly, Perseverance will search for organics and collect soil samples at Jezero Crater, storing them at designated locations. These samples will later be retrieved by another rover, transferred to a spacecraft, and sent back to Earth in 2031.

◇ Experiment to Produce Oxygen from Martian Atmosphere = Louis Friedman, director of the Planetary Society, an astronomical research organization, said, "Bringing samples back to Earth is one of the most important missions in humanity's history of Mars exploration," adding, "If successful, sending manned spacecraft to Mars will soon become possible."

Photo of the landing site surroundings taken by Perseverance [Image source=Yonhap News]

Perseverance is also equipped with instruments to test whether oxygen can be produced on Mars. It aims to convert carbon dioxide, which makes up 96% of the Martian atmosphere, into oxygen to see if it can be used for human respiration or as an oxidizer for rocket propulsion.

If successful, this will be a significant milestone in humanity's Mars colonization efforts, as oxygen would be produced locally on Mars rather than transported from Earth. This raises the possibility of modifying parts of the Martian ecosystem to create a habitable environment for humans.

◇ China's Mars Rover to Attempt Landing in May = Meanwhile, following the United Arab Emirates' Mars probe "Hope," which became the first Arab nation's spacecraft to enter Mars orbit on the 10th, China's Mars probe "Tianwen-1" also entered Mars orbit on the 12th, intensifying the global race for Mars exploration. If Tianwen-1 succeeds in its planned Mars landing as early as May, China will become the second country after the U.S. to land a rover directly on Mars.

On the 18th (local time), a graphic video depicting Perseverance's Mars landing is being displayed on the electronic billboard at Piccadilly Circus in London, UK.
London (UK) = AP News

Additionally, the European Space Agency and Russia are jointly planning the Mars exploration mission "ExoMars," aiming to land a Mars rover as early as 2023. India, which succeeded in entering Mars orbit in 2014, also aims to launch its second Mars orbiter in 2024. So far, six countries have successfully entered Mars orbit: the U.S., Russia, Europe, India, UAE, and China.

Darel West, senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, analyzed, "With the start of this Mars exploration mission, multinational competition for Mars development has begun," adding, "If this progresses beyond exploration to commercialization through Mars colonization, it will change the landscape of space development history."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.