Success breeds success, and NASA's ambitions on Mars have only increased as its rover missions have provided more and more information about the red planet. But, despite eight successful landings on Mars so far, going there is still a massive undertaking. Even the opportunity to go there only comes around every 26 months, when both Earth and Mars are on the same side of the sun and relatively close to each other.
So plans to head to Mars have not been derailed despite a global pandemic, with three nations launching missions headed there. NASA's latest launch marks the last of those missions to get underway, and it's a big one.