February
18
/ 2021
In an extraordinary confluence of events, three nations from three separate regions of the globe—the United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates—launched spacecraft headed for planet Mars within a 12-day period in July 2020. Earth and Mars were aligned perfectly for a complication-free trip during this window, and consequently the UAE’s orbiter probe Hope, China’s orbiter-rover Tianwen-1, and the United States’ rover Perseverance all began their long, arduous seven-month journeys to the ever-alluring red planet Mars at nearly the same time. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"83300","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"360","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"610"}}]] Illustration showing the landing event of NASA’s Perseverance on planet Mars on February 18, 2021. (JPL-Caltech / NASA ) NASA Planet Mars Landing Date Finally Arrives Despite being the last of the three to achieve Mars orbit
