By Nadia Drake
NASA's Perseverance rover is on its way to Mars as the 4th US rover to land on the Red Planet. Its main mission is to look for signs of life in Jezero Crater. It is also carrying a helicopter named Ingenuity that, if successful, will be the first fight on another planet. Studies have indicated that although Mars is dry and red today, it held water and geological activity in the past. It's atmosphere was much warmer, so the polar ice caps melted into rivers and lake, which we see traces of today. NASA researchers believe that the former lake is the best place to look for signs of old biological activity. Perseverance is essentially a larger version of the Curiosity rover, only with the capability to send samples back on future missions that NASA plans for 2026.
Ingenuity has extra fast rotors and a lightweight frame that will try to go airborne in the Martian air, which is much thinner than Earth's, requiring faster rotation to gain lift.
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