Mars 2020 Booster Disembarks

In this view from inside the Antonov 124 cargo aircraft, the United Launch Alliance booster for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is offloaded at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida on May 19, 2020.

The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at CCAFS. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.