For its third Mars flight, NASA's small Mars chopper flew at speeds and distances well beyond what had ever been previously tested here on Earth.

One of the goals of NASA’s Mars Rover, Perseverance, is to test new technology that could support future human missions to the Red Planet.

All systems are “go” for the maiden Mars flight of NASA’s small helicopter Ingenuity this weekend.

And as of Tuesday morning, NASA's small helicopter Ingenuity has survived a cold night on Mars and is nearly ready for its maiden flight.

The most important aspect of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is obviously to search for past life on the Red Planet -- but the most fascinating aspect may take place this week.

A visitor to an exhibition looks at a display with a replica of the Chinese Mars Rover of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft in Beijing on March 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING – As their respective spacecrafts headed to Mars, China and the U.S. held consultations earlier this year in a somewhat unusual series of exchanges between the rivals. China's National Space Agency confirmed Wednesday that it had working-level meetings and communications with NASA from January to March “to ensure the flight safety" of their crafts. U.S. law bans almost all contacts between NASA and China over concerns about technology theft and the secretive, military-backed nature of China’s space program. China's Tianwen-1 is orbiting Mars in preparation for a landing in May or June.

As a way to honor Native Americans -- and, particularly, a Navajo engineer on the Mars Rover Perseverance team -- NASA is naming points of interest on Mars using the Navajo language. The latest NASA rover to land on Mars is currently focusing on a rock named after the planet it’s on -- but in Navajo. The rock is called “Maaz,” which means “Mars” in the Navajo language. The Navajo engineer on the Perseverance team helped get permission and collaboration from his tribe to use the names. Listen: NASA Perseverance rover captures audio from MarsAdNASA’s Mars Rover Perseverance successfully landed on Feb. 18 near an ancient river delta in the Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient microscopic life.

NASA Mars Rover Perseverance is giving a never-before-seen view of the Red Planet just days after its successful landing. With 19 cameras on board, Perseverance provides a 360-degree panorama view of Mars, visible in a new high definition image of the rover’s landing site. Check out the view in the video above from NBC News, or take a longer look in NASA’s Twitter video touring the Mars landing site below. #CountdownToMarshttps://t.co/9tpv4Vl4lV — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 25, 2021The Mars rover successfully landed on Feb. 18 near an ancient river delta in the Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient microscopic life. AdAs NASA’s biggest and most advanced rover, Perseverance successfully tackled NASA’s smallest and trickiest target by landing in the Jezero Crater, which is a 5-by-4-mile strip on an ancient river delta full of pits, cliffs and rocks.

NASA shared the first video it received from the Perseverance rover on Mars. The new point-of-view video released Monday shows the Perseverance rover shedding its shields and performing its landing maneuvers, including the successful touchdown. Watch how we did it.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/Avv13dSVmQ — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 22, 2021The Perseverance rover landed last Thursday near an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient microscopic life. After spending the weekend binge-watching the descent and landing video, the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shared the video at a news conference. Read more: NASA releases Mars landing video: ‘Stuff of our dreams’Ad

New video shows the dramatic landing of NASA’s new Mars Rover last week. NASA released new point-of-view video showing the Perseverance Rover shedding its shields and performing its landing maneuvers, including the successful touchdown. Your front-row seat to my Mars landing is here. Watch how we did it.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/Avv13dSVmQ — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 22, 2021Perseverance, the biggest, most advanced rover ever sent by NASA, became the ninth spacecraft since the 1970s to successfully land on Mars, every one of them from the U.S. Scientists believe that if life ever flourished on Mars, it would have happened 3 billion to 4 billion years ago, when water still flowed on the planet.

(Image: NASA JPL)NASA’s new Mars Rover “Perseverance” is sending back some amazing photos, just a day after landing on the red planet! #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/8SgV53S9KG — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021Read: NASA rover Perseverance lands on Mars: How it went, and what’s nextA couple of others show the rocky surface surrounding the Rover:An open horizon, with so much to explore. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/hAaxeVGs04 — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021I love rocks. Can’t wait to find out.#CountdownToMarshttps://t.co/7w3rbvbyoL pic.twitter.com/H3q1M0YJAd — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021Every picture tells a story. Latest update and images: https://t.co/fnnEOOMWsV pic.twitter.com/39aGp963a3 — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021Perseverance, the biggest, most advanced rover ever sent by NASA, became the ninth spacecraft since the 1970s to successfully land on Mars, every one of them from the U.S.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Mars 2020 spacecraft carrying the Perseverance rover as it approaches Mars. Perseverance's $3 billion mission is the first leg in a U.S.-European effort to bring Mars samples to Earth in the next decade. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA successfully landed its newest rover on Mars! #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/dkM9jE9I6X — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021Watch NASA’s live Mars Rover coverage below:Spacecraft aiming to land on Mars have skipped past the planet, burned up on entry, smashed into the surface, and made it down amid a fierce dust storm only to spit out a single fuzzy gray picture before dying. Almost 50 years after the first casualty at Mars, NASA is attempting its hardest Martian touchdown yet.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Mars 2020 spacecraft carrying the Perseverance rover as it approaches Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA will attempt to land its newest Mars Rover, Perseverance, on Thursday, more than six months after it left Earth. Watch NASA’s live Mars Rover coverage below. Almost 50 years after the first casualty at Mars, NASA is attempting its hardest Martian touchdown yet. COVID-19 PRECAUTIONSSpeaking of clean, NASA’s Mars Mission Control has never been so spotless.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Mars 2020 spacecraft carrying the Perseverance rover as it approaches Mars. Perseverance's $3 billion mission is the first leg in a U.S.-European effort to bring Mars samples to Earth in the next decade. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA will attempt to land its newest Mars Rover, Perseverance, on Thursday, more than six months after it left Earth. Watch NASA’s live Mars Rover coverage below. Almost 50 years after the first casualty at Mars, NASA is attempting its hardest Martian touchdown yet.

NASA will attempt to land its newest Mars Rover, Perseverance, on Thursday -- and it won’t be easy. AdThe day is starting dry, but light snow will develop from south to north by late morning/early afternoon, and continue into Thursday evening. The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 577,203 as of Wednesday, including 15,188 deaths, state officials report. Michigan’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 898 on Tuesday -- the lowest since October. The state also reports “active cases,” which were listed at 43,000 on Tuesday -- near the lowest it’s been since October.

Published: July 30, 2020, 7:03 am Updated: July 30, 2020, 8:05 amNASAs Perseverance rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth. Perseverance was launched successfully Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Perseverance is set to land on Mars Feb. 18, 2021 at the planets Jezero Crater. You can watch live coverage here:More:

NASAs Perseverance rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth. The launch window for Perseverance opens Thursday, July 30 and closes Aug. 15, 2020. The launch is scheduled for 7:50 a.m. EDT at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FloridaIt is set to land on Mars Feb. 18, 2021 at the planets Jezero Crater. You can watch the launch live here.