One week from today, NASA will attempt to land its newest rover onto the red planet.
This is no easy task, as you’ll see in this short video explaining how NASA will try to stick this landing -- watch above.
Perseverance will be searching for actual evidence of past life on Mars, and is even bringing a little test helicopter (named Ingenuity) to see if this technology is a viable way to get around the planet!
Read more: NASA launches Mars 2020 Perseverance rover
Perseverance was launched successfully back in July from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The rover is set to land on Mars Feb. 18, 2021 at the planet’s Jezero Crater.
NASA offers this cool “Where is Perseverance?” tracker here. The mission has the ambitious goal of returning samples of Mars rock and soil back to Earth.
From NASA:
- Mission Name: Mars 2020
- Rover Name: Perseverance
- Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.
- Launch: July 30, 2020
- Landing: Feb. 18, 2021
- Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars
- Tech Demo: The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration, hitching a ride on the Perseverance rover.