NASA is on its way to Mars and would like you to participate as a virtual guest on this exciting new mission.
On July 30, NASA successfully launched the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on a seven-month journey to the Red Planet. The launch was broadcast live from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. (See a video of the launch at the end of this article.)
The Perseverance rover is scheduled to land in the Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient Martian lake, on Feb. 18, 2021. The rover will search the lakebed for signs of microscopic life that may have existed on Mars long ago. The rover also will collect soil samples to be returned to Earth on a future mission and will perform tests that could pave the way for future human exploration of the planet.
Perseverance will be accompanied by a miniature helicopter called Ingenuity, which will make the first attempt at powered flight on another world. Ingenuity, which weighs just under 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), will ride to Mars attached to the belly of the rover.
Watch this mission overview of NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover:
See Perseverance and Ingenuity in action in this NASA animated video:
Learn more with these free NASA resources
- Mission Overview web page
- Resources for students and children (stickers, posters collectible cards, bookmarks, Kids I Spy, word search, and more)
- Mission Fact sheet
- Learn more about the Rover
- How was Perseverance named?
- Learn more about the Helicopter
- Building the Perseverance Rover
- View the Behind the Spacecraft Video Series
Video of the Perseverance launch
Follow the Mars 2020 mission on Facebook.
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