NASA’s historic Mars 2020 Mission: What Perseverance aims to achieve

NASA’s most advanced Mars rover, Perseverance is all set to launch for its seven-month journey to the Red Planet on July 30. The mission will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida and viewers can participate in this historic event with NASA online. A live broadcast from NASA’s website or its social media channels will also be aired starting at 4:50 a.m. PDT (7:50 a.m. EDT). Perseverance rover is the largest, heaviest, most sophisticated vehicle with scientific instruments, advanced computational capabilities for landing, and other new systems, NASA has ever sent to the Red Planet.

Quick facts about NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission:

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance
Main Job: The Perseverance rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth.
Launch Window: July 30 – Aug. 15, 2020
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Landing: Feb. 18, 2021
Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars
Mission Duration: At least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days)
Tech Demo: The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration, hitching a ride on the Perseverance rover.

What Perseverance aims to achieve:

The Perseverance will hunt for signs of habitable environments on Mars while searching for signs of past microbial life. The robotic traveler will also cache a series of samples that can be returned to Earth with a future mission. It will also characterize the planet’s climate and geology and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

The robotic scientist, which weighs just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms), also will carry the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a technology demonstration that marks the first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet.

NASA Television Coverage

Tuesday, July 28

2 p.m. – Mars 2020 Mars Sample Return Briefing

4 p.m. – Mars 2020 Mission Tech and Humans to Mars Briefing

Thursday, July 30

7 a.m. – Mars 2020 Perseverance launch broadcast

11:30 a.m. – Mars 2020 Perseverance post-launch news conference

Watch and Engage on Social Media

Twitter: @NASA, @NASAPersevere, @NASAMars

Facebook: NASA, NASAPersevere

Instagram: NASA

Mars 2020 Perseverance is part of America’s larger Moon to Mars exploration approach that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with sending the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis program.

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