Quantum Technology Research

New findings on Mars
Three missions arrived at Mars in February 2021, taking advantage of the Earth-Mars orbit alignment, something that happens once every 26 months.

The United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter aimed to study the past and present climate of Mars from orbit by monitoring the Red Planet’s daily, monthly and yearly changes.

The Chinese National Space Agency’s (CNSA) Tianwen-1 surveyed the surface of Mars from orbit and then set down the Zhurong rover in the large Utopia Planitia on Mars. The goal was to test China’s ability to move around on the Martian surface.

NASA’s Perseverance lander, which is based on the design of the Curiosity but comes with a suite of instruments to drill and store rock samples, will spend the next few years travelling across Jezero Crater.

It will collect up to 43 rock samples which will them be sent back in caches in the Sample Return mission which is still being planned.

One of the biggest science breakthroughs on Mars is the test to see if we can fly through the Martian atmosphere.

The Ingenuity Helicopter, which came along with Perseverance as a technology demonstration mission, is a small drone-like rotocraft. It has now travelled more than 2 km.