Perseverance in Mars Missions

By Victoria Choi

Troy High School

On July 30th, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Perseverance rover to begin its seven month journey to Mars. This recent launch is NASA’s most complex expedition to Mars, as it is the first ever to attempt to return samples of rock and soil to Earth in order to examine signs of life. However, Perseverance is projected to cost over 2.7 billion dollars, raising concerns over whether the costs will outweigh the benefits.

When putting 2.7 billion dollars into perspective with other space missions and considering the rover’s role in the search for life, Perseverance’s costs are certainly justified. According to the Planetary Society, when NASA’s other Mars missions are adjusted with inflation for direct comparison, the 1975 Vikings 1 and 2 (first mission to land safely on Mars’s surface) cost a total of 7.1 billion dollars while the 2011 Curiosity rover (mission to determine whether Mars was habitable) cost a total of 3.2 billion dollars. Despite both these rovers’ costs, they both had important contributions to the planet’s exploration, such as influencing landing designs and finding evidence of previously existing liquid water.

As freshman Justin Choi from Troy High School points out, "Perseverance’s costs are relatively lower than other Mars missions while offering to provide more knowledge about Mars that can be physically brought back and studied."

NASA’s missions to Mars are crucial in learning more about the Red Planet. There is an increasing capability of rovers; in fact, many regard Perseverance as the start of a new era in exploration. Not only is it equipped with a robotic arm, 23 cameras, and first ever microphones to pick up sounds, Perseverance is also looking to demonstrate whether humans can make their own oxygen in Mars through the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) that it carries. Furthermore, the rover also carries the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which is going to scout interesting targets as well as provide understanding of the technology needed for flying in the Martian atmosphere. Junior Chris Choi from Orange Lutheran High School states that discovering new resources and answering questions through these new methods is crucial. He explains that the launches to Mars are necessary beyond simply looking at the costs, especially as humans have not been able to set foot on the Red Planet yet. These rovers are indeed our only connection to Mars, and it is crucial that rovers such as Perseverance are able to fully explore and learn more about another planet before humans think about inhabiting it. 

As technology improves and there are increasing opportunities to learn more about Mars, the costs for funding missions are projected to increase. However, taking consideration into the contributions that past rovers have made and the importance of fully understanding a planet before looking to live in it, new launches are crucial and growing costs are fully justified.