{"id":21692,"date":"2020-04-22T17:26:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T21:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21692"},"modified":"2020-04-22T17:26:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T21:26:45","slug":"space-sciences-roundup-april-22-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21692","title":{"rendered":"Space sciences roundup – April.22.2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images from space-related science news items (find previous roundups here<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Mars<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

** NASA’s Perseverance rover<\/a> in final preparations for launch<\/a> to Mars in July<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

With 13 weeks to go before the launch period of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover opens, final preparations of the spacecraft continue at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On April 8, the assembly, test and launch operations team completed a crucial mass properties test of the rover.<\/p>\n

Precision mass properties measurements are essential to a safe landing on Mars because they help ensure that the spacecraft travels accurately throughout its trip to the Red Planet – from launch through its entry, descent and landing.<\/em><\/p>\n

On April 6, the meticulous three-day process began with Perseverance being lifted onto the rover turnover fixture. The team then slowly rotated the rover around its x-axis – an imaginary line that extends through the rover from its tail to its front – to determine its center of gravity (the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides) relative to that axis.<\/em><\/p>\n