It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on 30 July 2020, at 11:50 UTC.
Confirmation that the rover successfully landed on Mars was received on 18 February 2021, at 20:55 UTC. Following the rover’s arrival, NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing.
Perseverance has a similar design to its predecessor rover, Curiosity, from which it was moderately upgraded. It carries seven primary payload instruments, nineteen cameras, and two microphones.
The rover also carried the mini-helicopter Ingenuity to Mars, an experimental aircraft and technology showcase that made the first powered flight on another planet on 19 April 2021. Since its first flight, Ingenuity has made 11 more flights for a total of 12 powered flights on another planet.
The rover’s goals include identifying ancient Martian environments capable of supporting life, seeking out evidence of former microbial life existing in those environments, collecting rock and soil samples to store on the Martian surface, and testing oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere to prepare for future crewed missions.
