After a series of successful space missions during the past year, 2021 promises some exciting new international exploration projects. Three nations have launched spacecraft designed to begin exploring Mars in 2021. The U.S. space agency, NASA, is expecting its explorer, called Perseverance, to land on the Red Planet on February 18. The explorer, or rover, is on a mission to “search for signs of life and collect rock and soil samples,” NASA says. Perseverance is NASA’s fifth Mars explorer. It is carrying a small experimental helicopter, called Ingenuity. The device would be the first to test the abilities of such a craft on another planet. One important experiment will test a device designed to capture carbon dioxide from Mars’ atmosphere and turn it into oxygen.
What does mission mean in this article?
a group of astronauts
a galaxy of stars and planets
the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task
invisible gases that form a thin protective blanket around the earth
When should the U.S. explorer land on Mars?
February 18
March 18
February 8
April 18
Three nations have launched spacecraft in 2021 designed to begin exploring Mars.
Mercury
Mars
Saturn
Pluto