Mars 2020

If NASA's new off-world helicopter (last Friday's post) is going to land on Mars next February, when does it have to leave earth? 

The answer is that it will launch this summer. To get there by then, the mission must launch between July 17 and August 5, or it will have to wait two more years for the right timing. 

NASA made it one of their top priorities to keep the mission moving forward even through the coronavirus quarantine. Office space at Kennedy Space Center was set apart so the team could keep social distancing while working, and a special aircraft shuttled team members between California and Florida when necessary.

Mars rover "Perseverance" will look for evidence of past life on Mars, and will bring samples back to earth. There's much to do before we land humans on the moon (2024) and eventually Mars. They say:

"All that we build, all that we study, all that we do, prepares us to go."

A thirteen-year-old nerd (self-described) named the rover:

udy