Perseverance (rover)
Perseverance, nicknamed Percy, is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission. It was manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on July 30, 2020, at 11:50 UTC. Confirmation that the rover successfully landed on Mars was received on February 18, 2021, at 20:55 UTC. As of 13 February 2024, Perseverance has been active on Mars for 1061 sols (1,090 Earth days, or 2 years, 11 months and 26 days) since its landing. Following the rover's arrival, NASA named the landing site Octavia E. Butler Landing.
| Perseverance | |
|---|---|
| Part of Mars 2020 | |
Self-portrait by Perseverance in September 2021 at Rochette, a rock and the site of the first core samples of the Mars 2020 mission. | |
| Type | Mars rover |
| Owner | NASA |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Specifications | |
| Dimensions | 2.9 m × 2.7 m × 2.2 m (9 ft 6 in × 8 ft 10 in × 7 ft 3 in) |
| Dry mass | 1,025 kilograms (2,260 lb) |
| Communication | |
| Power | MMRTG; 110 watt |
| Rocket | Atlas V 541 |
| Instruments | |
| History | |
| Launched |
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| Deployed |
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| Location | 18.447°N 77.402°E Jezero crater, Mars |
| Travelled | 24.661 km (15.324 mi) as of 1 February 2024 |
| NASA Mars rovers | |
Perseverance has a similar design to its predecessor rover, Curiosity, although 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 technology testbed that made the first powered aircraft flight on another planet on April 19, 2021. On January 18, 2024 (UTC), it made its 72nd and final flight, suffering damage on landing to its rotor blades, possibly all four, causing NASA to retire it.
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.