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Photo by: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Has Landed on Mars

By: Alexia Rosenfield

After a harrowing landing and traveling nearly 292.5 million miles, NASA's Perseverance with Ingenuity touched down on Mars at 3:55P ET today, February 18, 2021.

Congratulations to the teams at NASA and JPL. We cannot wait to see what research comes from this incredible mission.

Experience more Mars on discovery+. Download and subscribe to stream NASA Mars Landing: Inside the Mission and When We Left Earth.

February 18, 2021

(Updated: February 22, 2021)

The Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter launched on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Starting now, their mission is to seek signs of ancient life and collect samples from Mars for examination on Earth. Here are the highlights from their arrival on the red planet.

Known as the “seven minutes of terror,” Perseverance readied itself to complete its Entry, Descent, and Landing sequence to land at the Jezero crater on Mars. The spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere at 3:48P ET and successfully landed at 3:55P ET.

8 Minutes until Atmospheric Entry!

Touch down on Mars! Congratulations to NASA, JPL, and its partners on this historic milestone!!

See the First Images from the new Mars Rover, Perseverance 38 Photos

NASA's Perseverance with Ingenuity touched down on the dusty red planet on Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 3:55P ET.

Experience more Mars on discovery+. Download and subscribe to stream NASA Mars Landing: Inside the Mission and When We Left Earth.

Watch More on Mars Exploration 5 Videos

Follow the journey of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover to the red planet.

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Perseverance with Ingenuity strapped to its belly launched on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter safely landed on the dusty surface at 3:55P ET on February 18, 2021, after traveling nearly 292.5 million miles.

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NASA Has Announced Plans for the Next Decade of Space Missions, And It’s Awesome

Personally speaking, I feel like we’ve been focusing on Mars a little bit too much recently. Sure, the Red Planet is all sorts of awesome – so awesome it may have once been a home for life – but with more than half a dozen orbiters, landers, and rovers, it’s certainly got its due.

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