Explore how human technology conquered Mars in 2021

SpaceX founder and tech billionaire Elon Musk once said “We don’t want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species.” What he meant was that the goal for us humans is to conquer our neighbouring planet Mars physically or with the help of technology. In fact, 2021 saw humans sending technology to the red planet that explored the alien world on their behalf. This included a series of rovers, probes and other satellites.  

Different countries with different kinds of technology launched their individual missions in 2021 and discovered mystery features of Mars, its atmospheric conditions, geographical history and whether the planet ever had any form of life on it or not. Before heading on to 2022, here’s looking back at how human technology colonised Mars in 2021.  

Perseverance Mars rover 
Perseverance Mars rover was a joint venture of NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in February 2021. The rover had entered the Martian atmosphere successfully and has even since been looking for signs of ancient microbial life on the red planet as it hovers in the Jazero crater. The rover has an in-built custom-made drill that is set to collect detailed samples of rock and soil from Mars’ surface and then keep them stored in sealed tubes until another future rover brings them back on earth for core analysis.  

Ingenuity Mars helicopter 
In April 2021, NASA launched the first ever helicopter on Mars called the Ingenuity helicopter. This robotic quadcopter arrived on the Martian surface right after the Perseverance rover, as its four rotors operated in high speed in and around the super thin Martian orbit. Till date, Ingenuity helicopter has itself launched 18 sorties in the Martian atmosphere and has proved itself to be a technological success in conducting interplanetary expeditions.  

Hope Mars probe 
In July 2021, UAE launched Hope Mars probe onto the red planet to study the weather dynamics in the Martian atmosphere and capture a comprehensive image. Through this mission, UAE is trying to build a foundation for future human-based missions to Mars. This mission made UAE’s space agency one of five space agencies to have successfully carried out functioning Mars mission in this century.  

Zhurong Mars rover 
In May 2021, the Chinese rover called the Zhurong Mars rover successfully landed on the Utopia Planitia basin on the Martian atmosphere. This made China only the third country after USA and Russia to land a rover on another planet. Launched by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), this rover was able to orbit, land and rove – all during a single mission. Zhurong rover was able to successfully complete its scheduled 90-day operational mission and continues to hover to study the surface soil characteristics and the surface material composition with respect to Martian climate and environment.