NASA’s Perseverance rover has almost reached Mars. After traveling more than 292.5 million miles from Earth, the rover will reach the Red Planet on February 18. NASA’s most sophisticated rover yet, Perseverance, which launched on July 30, 2020, will explore the planet looking for ancient signs of life and collecting rock samples to bring back to Earth. Specifically, it will explore the area of Jezero Crater, the rover’s landing siteOpens in a new tab, once the site of an ancient river delta.
NASA is calling the Perseverance’s impending landingOpens in a new tab as “the hardest Mars landing ever attempted in history.” Here’s how to watch the live coverage of the event.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Where to watch the coverage?
NASA is pulling out all the stops to ensure everyone can participate in the landing’s major momentsOpens in a new tab. Beginning at 2:15pm ET/11:15am PT, livestream updates and commentary will be broadcasting on YouTubeOpens in a new tab, TwitterOpens in a new tab, FacebookOpens in a new tab, LinkedInOpens in a new tab, TwitchOpens in a new tab, Daily MotionOpens in a new tab, Theta.TVOpens in a new tab, and the NASA AppOpens in a new tab. Additionally, there’ll also be a Spanish-languageOpens in a new tab broadcast of the landing. And for those really into NASA’s operations, there’ll also be a feed showing the mission control roomOpens in a new tab and a 360-degree streamOpens in a new tab documenting the landing in a very immersive—almost dizzying—way.
According to NASA’s timeline, the crucial time period falls during a period of seven minutes of terror. That represents the time between the rover reaching the Martian atmosphere and its landing. For Perseverance, that will occur at 3:48 pm ET and 3:55pm ET.
Perseverance will roam Mars for one Martian year—which is slightly more than two Earth years. The rover has seven instruments to assist with mission objectives. This includes Ingenuity, a helicopter making the first ever controlled flight on another planet. The Mars 2020 mission is momentous. NASA believes its technological successes could have major implications. It would mean great strides for the potential future human missions to both Mars and the Moon.
Keep an eye on important NASA updatesOpens in a new tab and get ready to celebrate the Perseverance with some pretty special doughnutsOpens in a new tab.
