Mission Timeline

This GIF shows the order in which the 142 images that makeup the Mastcam-Z’s first 360-degree panorama were taken. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable cameras on the mast, or “head,” of NASA’s Persever...

On June 21, 2019, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory install the main robotic arm on the Mars 2020 rover.

A proposed helicopter could triple the distances that Mars rovers can drive in a Martian day and help pinpoint interesting targets for study.

Close-up of a slice of a meteorite scientists have determined came from Mars. This slice will likely be used here on Earth for testing a laser instrument for NASA's Mars 2020 rover; a separate slic...

This diagram illustrates the current iteration (July 2015) of the lens packaging for the Mars 2020 Rover's instrument, Mastcam-Z.

This graphic provides an oblique view of Mars’ Jezero crater -- looking west above the crater floor.

Two members of the field team set up cameras as part of the simulated rover operation. The images they provided were intended to stand in for what a rover's instruments might send back from Mars. 

NASA’s Perseverance Rover began its long journey to Mars today by successfully launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a ULA Atlas V rocket. It now begins its seven-month journey to the ...

This artist's concept video shows NASA's Mars 2020 rover raising its head (its mast) and reaching out its robotic arm.

In time-lapse video bunny-suited engineers remove the inner layer of protective foil on NASA's Mars 2020 rover after it was moved to a different building at JPL for testing.

(Left) Apollo 12 astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. stands beside NASA's Surveyor 3 spacecraft; the lunar module Intrepid can be seen in the distance. (Right) Mars 2020 rover, seen here in an arti...

In this video captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, the agency's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021. 

A 58-foot-tall Black Brant IX sounding rocket launches from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Oct. 4. This was the first test of the Mars 2020 mission's parachute-testing series, the Advanced Super...

All landings on Mars are difficult, but NASA's Perseverance rover is attempting to touch down in the most challenging terrain on Mars ever targeted. 

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory participate in a training exercise in February 2020. They reviewed images and data sent by a field team in the Nevada desert, discussing where to send...

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (above center to the right) is viewed by one of the hazard cameras aboard the Perseverance rover during the helicopter’s fourth flight on April 30, 2021.

Scientists from NASA's Mars 2020 and ESA's ExoMars projects study stromatolites, the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth, in the Pilbara region of North West Australia. The image was tak...

This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover exploring Mars. 

Bill Allen in JPL's Mars Yard in early 2020.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter takes off and lands in this video captured on April 19, 2021, by Mastcam-Z, an imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. This video features only the moments of...

Faire atterrir une sonde sur Mars est l’une des choses les plus complexes à réaliser. Cette vidéo de 60 secondes explique comment cela est possible, et illustre les trois systèmes d'atterrissage ut...

This image shows major components of NASA's Mars 2020 mission in the High Bay 1 clean room in JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility.

NASA's Perseverance rover is moved during a test of its mass properties at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The image was taken on April 7, 2020.

This animated GIF shows a test of the mortar system that will be used on Feb. 18, 2021, to deploy the parachute for NASA's Perseverance rover. The test took place in November 2019 at a facility in ...

An illustration of the planet Mars, highlighting NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and future human explorers.