Joey Roulette: First round trip to Mars may change everything

Nasa has joined the UAE and China in launching missions to Mars this month. More than half of all spacecraft sent there have either blown up or crashed

The Perseverance rover successfully blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida yesterday on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — despite a 4.2-magnitude earthquake that shook southern California just 20 minutes before departure.Picture: John Raoux/AP

And so the race to Mars is on.

Nasa became the latest space agency to try to conquer the Red Planet with its car-sized robotic spacecraft now on its way in a mission to search for evidence of ancient life.