It was on July 30 that NASA, the United States space agency launched its Mars Perseverance Rover to the Red Planet from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The probe is expected to make its soft-landing on Mars on February 18, 2021, and after reaching the Red Planet, the probe will check whether Mars was once home to alien life. And now, a new tool developed by NASA will allow people to watch the journey of Perseverance Rover to Mars in real-time.
Eyes on the Solar System
NASA has named this new tool 'Eyes on the Solar System', and this interactive web application will show you the journey of the Perseverance probe, that is currently en-route to Mars.
"Eyes on the Solar System visualizes the same trajectory data that the navigation team uses to plot Perseverance's course to Mars. f you want to follow along with us on our journey, that's the place to be," said Fernando Abilleira, the Mars 2020 mission design, and navigation manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, in a recent statement.
Tracking the Journey of Perseverance Probe
Using this advanced application, people can track the remaining distance between the rover and Mars at any time. Users can also fly in formation with Perseverance or check the relative velocity between Earth and Mars, or other space bodies like Pluto.
"With all our orbital assets circling Mars as well as Curiosity and InSight on its surface, new data and imagery is coming in all the time about the Red Planet. Essentially, if you haven't seen Mars lately through Eyes on the Solar System, you haven't seen Mars," said John Nelson, visualization technology and applications development supervisor at JPL in the statement.
Will NASA Discover Alien Life on Mars?
Considering the past of Mars, where there was a healthy river system, several space scientists strongly believe that the Red Planet was once home to alien life. Some experts argue that there could be life on Martian underground, and the Perseverance probe will try to figure out whether these assumptions are right.
A few months back, NASA chief scientist Dr. Jim Green had claimed that alien life will be discovered on Mars within 2021. However, he made it clear that humanity is not prepared enough to accept realities surrounding extraterrestrial existence.
