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    Perseverance Presses On, Remains Targeted for Summer Launch

    Mars Perseverance rover in the PHSF at Kennedy Space Center

    Testing on NASA's Mars Perseverance rover at Kennedy Space Center closed out April on an extremely high note. The latest activities at the Florida spaceport included attaching the aeroshell backshell on April 29 and attaching the rover to its rocket-powered descent stage on April 23 inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The rover and descent …

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    NASA Helicopter Ready to Hitch a Ride to the Red Planet

    NASA's Mars Helicopter inside Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility

    NASA's Mars Helicopter will make history in about 10 months when it becomes the first aircraft to fly on another world. Now it has its ride to the Red Planet. On April 6, 2020, the helicopter was attached to the belly of the agency's Mars Perseverance rover. The installation took place inside the Payload Hazardous …

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    Wheels, Parachute Installed on Mars Perseverance Rover

    The assembly, test and launch operations team from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, making significant strides in preparing the agency's Mars Perseverance rover for its planned July 2020 launch. Final assembly and testing of the rover continue at Kennedy, including the recent installation of its wheels and …

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    Millions Tag Along for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission

    When the Mars Perseverance rover begins its seven-month journey to the Red Planet in mid-July, it will be carrying the names of more than 10 million people throughout the world. Those names were etched onto three microchips, which were placed aboard Perseverance. On March 16, 2020, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy …

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    NASA Shows Perseverance with Helicopter, Cruise Stage Testing

    NASA's Mars Helicopter and its cruise stage undergo functional testing in the airlock inside Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on March 10, 2020.

    The Mars 2020 mission involving NASA's newly named rover — Perseverance — received a significant boost following the completion of important testing at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Activities to measure mass properties of the Cruise Stage vehicle were performed on the spin table inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Successful testing also …

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    Prepping for a High Altitude Flight

    NASA's high-altitude ER-2 aircraft was part of the IMPACTS field mission to study snow in January and February, 2020. Credit: NASA/Katie Stern

    By Katie Stern, IMPACTS' Deputy Project Manager / HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA/ "Get in there and check it out!" I was encouraged by "Corky" Cortes from the NASA ER-2 Life Support Team to see how the pilots prepare for their flight. This was my first NASA field campaign with the ER-2, a high altitude …

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    A Breathtaking View – Literally

    Credit: NASA / Jessica Merzdorf

    By Jessica Merzdorf / GRAND MESA LODGE, COLORADO After visiting with part of the SnowEx 2020 airborne team, we headed up the mountain to rendezvous with the ground team, stationed at Grand Mesa Lodge. "Does anyone have a headache?" asked Jerry Newlin, SnowEx operations manager, as we left the little town of Delta and the …

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    Snow Science Two Miles in the Sky

    Grand Mesa, Colorado has an elevation of 10,500 feet, and from the Land's End Observatory, you can see across the valley to Utah. The large, flat surface of the mesa is perfect for SnowEx 2020's instrument testing and validation activities. Credit: NASA / Jessica Merzdorf

    By Jessica Merzdorf / GRAND MESA LODGE, COLORADO What is it like to do science nearly 2 miles above sea level? At a majestic 10,500 feet elevation, Grand Mesa is the world's tallest mesa, or flat-topped mountain. It's also the site of an intense month of data collection by NASA's SnowEx 2020, a ground and …

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