Launch of Pasadena-Built Mars Perseverance Rover Pushed Back to End of July or August

The long-anticipated launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, carrying the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Perseverance rover and first-of-its kind Mars Ingenuity helicopter, has been pushed back by at least 10 days after engineers detected an anomaly during pre-flight testing, officials said.

Mars 2020 will blast off “no earlier than July 30,” according to a statement released by NASA on Tuesday. The problem was detected in preparation for final mating of the spacecraft atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will carry it into space and on to Mars.

“A liquid oxygen sensor line presented off-nominal data during the Wet Dress Rehearsal, and additional time is needed for the team to inspect and evaluate,” NASA said in a written statement.

The mission launch timeline has been expanded to Aug. 15, and flight analysis teams were looking into the possibility of extending the window further into August, officials said.

Originally scheduled for launch from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 20, the launch was pushed back to July 22 last week, as additional time was needed to fix a “contamination issue concern in the ground support lines in NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility,” according to NASA.

After a seven-month journey through space, the Mars 2020 mission is to deliver the Perseverance rover, which will use an array of state-of-the-art sensors to study the Red Planet and look for signs of ancient life. It will also attempt to collect samples of martian rock and soil to be collected and returned to Earth on a future mission.

The rover carries a passenger of its own in the form of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. The 4-pound, softball-sized aircraft with twin rotors measuring 4 feet across is primarily designed as a “technology demonstration” to show that helicopter flight on another world is possible. If successful, it could pave the way for future air-based space probes to help humankind explore the solar system.