This artist’s illustration shows a “sky crane” gently lowering Perseverance to the surface of Mars.
NASA
NASA successfully landed its most advanced rover ever on the surface of another planet this week. The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is the fifth such rolling robot the space agency has sent to the red planet, and when the mission is over, it will have cost nearly $3 billion.
With a pandemic bringing everyday existence on the surface of our own planet to arguably its lowest point since humans entered the space age several decades ago, it’s fair to wonder why we’re devoting…