Perseverance Lands on Mars – Views from the Red Planet

NASA successfully landed their latest and most advanced rover named Perseverance, or “Percy,” on Mars. Ground zero for Percy is the Jezero Crater, an important geographical site, as it used to be a lake/river basin that may provide our best chance at discovering past signs of life on Mars.

Check out the control room’s reactions to the successful landing.

Here are some of the earliest images from the rover.

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image of the area in back of it using its onboard Rear Right Hazard Avoidance Camera. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the first image NASA’s Perseverance rover sent back after touching down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. The view, from one of Perseverance’s Hazard Cameras, is partially obscured by a dust cover. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the first high-resolution, color image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) on the underside of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover after its landing on Feb. 18, 2021. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Now that the journey of getting the robot to Mars is over, the work has just begun for its surface team. According to NASA’s Mars Perseverance 2020 Fact Sheet, the objectives are now to “explore a geologically diverse landing site, assess ancient habitability, seek signs of ancient life, particularly in special rocks known to preserve signs of life over time, gather rock and soil samples that could be returned to Earth by a future NASA mission, and demonstrate technology for future robotic and human exploration.”

The rover is expected to spend at least 2 years surveying the Martian landscape. For more information, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/