On this day - 18 February

Robert Hanssen was arrested on February 18th 2001 following a lengthy FBI career throughout which he was selling information to the Russian KGB. He sold over 6000 top secret documents. As discussed in the Sunday Express article, he was paid in a variety of different forms including diamonds and cash, which he hoped would provide some security to his 6 children.

A plea deal was arranged and on July 6th 2001 Hanssen pled guilty to 13 counts of espionage, one count of attempted espionage and one count of conspiracy to commit espionage. He received 15 consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Perseverance is a Mars exploration rover and was launched on July 30th 2020. It travelled to Mars with a mission to explore the Jezero crater. It is a similar style and design to the more widely known Curiosity rover. On February 18th 2021 confirmation was received that Perseverance had successfully landed on Mars. Perseverance works on scientific research including the investigation into whether Mars could support human life.

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