Three missions will arrive at Mars in February 2021. Every 2 years approximately
(26 months) the separation between Earth and Mars is the shortest, so the best time
to launch missions that require the least amount of fuel (from 7 to 9 months of
travel). Thus, in February 3 missions will arrive to Mars: one from NASA,
another from China and a mission from the United Arab Emirates.
These are the Missions:
1. Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration
Program, a long-term robotic exploration effort of the Red Planet. The scientific
objectives of the mission are the exploration of Mars and the answers to key
questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission will look for signs
of habitable conditions on Mars in the past, but will also look for signs of
microbial life today. The rover introduces a drill that can collect core samples
from the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a "hideout" on
the surface of Mars.
The rover is due to land this Thursday, on February 18 at about 20:55 UTC at a place called Jezero Crater.
2. Tianwen-1, China's Mars Rover and Orbiter Mission
China’s first Mars mission will search for pockets of water beneath the surface that could host life. The mission was launched on July 23, 2020, from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province. The spacecraft is already in orbit around the red planet. As a curiosity, the name Tianwen means “Questions to the sky.”
3. Hope, the United Arab Emirates' First Mission to Mars
The Hope Mars Mission will build a complete picture of the Martian climate.
launched its probe called Hope on July 20, 2020, from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan.