On Thursday, Feb.18, the Perseverance Rover landed on the surface of Mars, with a mission of searching for signs of ancient life. The rover is also collecting rock samples for a hopeful return to Earth. This specific mission of the Perseverance Rover is significant due to its efforts of human exploration on Mars in the future. Many people are excited to see what the rover finds on Mars, and the journey it has ahead.
Barbara Ossowski, a CCP teacher at LSHS, has been keeping up to date with the rover and incorporating it into her science classes in order to tie into students’ lives and the world around them.
“Part of Perseverance’s fuel, besides using solar power, is using the plutonium, and the decay of the plutonium to fuel the Rover,” Ossowski said.
The Perseverance Rover is known for having many high-tech features equipped onto it.
“I think it’s pretty cool that it has two robotic arms, and it is actually able to drill out sections,” sophomore Ryan Stokes, a Robotics Club member stated.
Seeing this mission is inspiring to students who see a future in space exploration.
“Most definitely, that is actually what I plan on doing as a career,” Stokes responded.
The main topic of discussion around the rover is finding signs of life on Mars.
“There is a small possibility that there could be a different type of life form that could be found on Mars through microbes… it is pretty exciting to see the news,” Robotics Club participant and engineering student sophomore Azarias Assaye said.
Assaye hopes they find signs of ancient life on Mars, whether it’s “an advanced species or a new growing species that can coexist with humans” he said, but he is not certain any of this will be found.
A common agreement between students and staff is that everyone had the same reaction watching the live video of the rover land on Mars. They were all amazed by the landing.
“It’s very exciting, and I know we’ve had other robots on Mars, but this one has got some really cool scientific objectives that they want to get done,” Ossowski said.