Perseverance Mars rover

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. The new rover will search for signs of habitable environments on Mars and evidence of past microbial life. It will also cache samples of the Red Planet to return to Earth for a future Mars sample-return mission. See the latest news about NASA's Perseverance Mars rover here!

Related topics: Mars, Curiosity rover, ExoMars

Latest Updates

NASA's Perseverance rover captured this image of a Mars dust devil on Aug. 30, 2023.

Watch a dust devil swirl across Mars in this video from NASA's Perseverance rover

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance rover captured video of a dust devil moving along the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater on Aug. 30, 2023.

a shadow of a small drone is seen on sandy ground in a black-and-white photo.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter breaks altitude record on 59th Mars flight

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter soared higher than ever before over the weekend, getting 66 feet (20 meters) above the ground on its 59th Red Planet flight.

a large rock that looks a lot like an avocado split into halves.

Perseverance rover spies 'avocado' rock on Mars (photo)

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover just snapped a new photo of a Red Planet rock that looks a lot like an avocado.

People in clean room white suits lowering a golden box into Perserverance.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover wraps up MOXIE oxygen-making experiment

By Monisha Ravisetti published

The Perseverance rover's MOXIE experiment produced a total of 122 grams of oxygen on Mars. At its most efficient, it generated 12 grams of the life-sustaining element every hour.

a black-and-white image showing a small helicopter's shadow on sandy, boulder-studded ground.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter soars past 100 minutes of total Mars flight time

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flew for the 57th time on Sept. 3, a sortie that pushed the robot's total Red Planet air time over 100 minutes.

black-and-white photo showing the shadow of a small helicopter flying over sandy ground.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flies on Mars for the 56th time

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flew for the 56th time last week, staying aloft for nearly 2.5 minutes on a sortie that covered 1,344 feet (410 meters) of ground.

Members of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, the European Space Agency, the Australian Space Agency, and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization are in Western Australia's Pilbara region to investigate "stromatolites," the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth. They discuss the importance of geological context when choosing sampling sites and ensuring the integrity of a sample's biological origin while considering plans for future missions to bring Mars samples to Earth.

Clues to spotting life on Mars are right here on Earth

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Search for life on Mars could be aided by investigating ancient fossils here on Earth.

a dark spot can be seen on a pale yellow sun

Perseverance Mars rover spies big sunspot rotating toward Earth (photos)

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has captured photos of a big sunspot, which should rotate into view for those of us on Earth in the coming days.

image of reddish-brown martian dirt with some grayish rocks, taken from a height of about 30 feet.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter aces 55th Red Planet flight

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has taken to the skies yet again, covering 866 feet (264 meters) of ground on its 55th Red Planet flight.

a small robotic helicopter hovers in front of a reddish-brown mountain on mars

Watch Ingenuity Mars helicopter fly in amazing video from Perseverance rover

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured a stunning video of the Ingenuity helicopter on Aug. 3, during the little chopper's 54th Red Planet flight.

The new NASA Mars Rover Perseverance Lego Technic model reproduces the six-wheeled explorer and its flying companion now on the Red Planet.

New Lego Technic Perseverance Mars rover was a 'thrill' says JPL advisor

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

Step 337 in assembling Lego's NASA Mars Rover Perseverance Technic model is to you install your name — assuming you were one of the nearly 11 million people who signed up to fly on the real rover.

mars rover perseverance studies a rock with its robotic arm, with a rocky outcrop in the distance

Building blocks of Mars life? Perseverance rover digs up diverse set of organic molecules on the Red Planet

By Charles Q. Choi published

NASA's Perseverance rover has found an intriguing menagerie of organic molecules in a Martian crater, but their source remains unclear.

a wheeled robot on Mars

Mars rover Perseverance sets new record for making oxygen on Red Planet

By Leonard David published

Earlier this month, the MOXIE oxygen-making experiment on the Perseverance Mars rover achieved a major milestone.

large black rock with a hole in its center sitting on mars' reddish-brown surface

Mars donut! Perseverance rover spots holey Red Planet rock (photo)

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance rover has spied a big, donut-shaped rock on Mars. It might be a meteorite, scientists say.

curiosity rover on mars next to a small reddish-brown hill

How do Mars rocks and riverbeds get their names? NASA explains (video)

By Robert Lea published

A new NASA video explains why and how the features studied by the Perseverance and Curiosity Mars rovers are named.

The new Lego Technic NASA Mars Rover Perseverance will go on sale on Aug. 1. The 1,132-piece model reproduces the six-wheeled explorer and Ingenuity, its flying rotorcraft companion.

Lego to roll out Mars rover Perseverance as new Technic set on August 1

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

The next space-themed Lego set is actually two spacecraft in one, Technic-ally speaking. The Lego Technic NASA Mars Rover Perseverance set recreates the wheeled explorer and its Ingenuity helicopter.

Scientists think that these bands of rock may have been formed by a deep, fast-flowing river — the first time such evidence has been found on Mars. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this scene at a location nicknamed "Skrinkle Haven" using its Mastcam-Z camera between Feb. 28 and March 9, 2023.

Perseverance rover spies signs of ancient raging rivers on Mars

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance rover has found evidence that a deep and fast-moving river once coursed through Mars' Jezero Crater, shaking up current ideas of past Red Planet water flow.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter, photographed by the agency's Perseverance rover on April 16, 2023. The rover captured this enhanced-color image using its Mastcam-Z instrument.

Perseverance Mars rover snaps amazing shot of dusty Ingenuity helicopter (photo)

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA's Perseverance rover just snapped an up-close view of its Mars companion Ingenuity, revealing the robotic helicopter's dusty blades.

small helicopter sits in front of ridge with numerous martian rocks on it. peach sky and hills are far in behind

50 flights on Mars! Ingenuity helicopter's record-setting hop is a giant leap for exploration

By Elizabeth Howell published

Ingenuity was only supposed to make five flights on Mars. Now at 50 sorties, Ingenuity is helping NASA get ready to bring Red Planet samples to Earth.

This image shows the rocky outcrop the Perseverance science team calls "Berea" after the NASA Mars rover extracted a rock core (right) and abraded a circular patch (left). The image was taken by one of the rover’s front hazard cameras on March 30, 2023, the 749th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Perseverance Mars rover collects 1st sample of new science campaign (photos)

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has collected its 16th drilled rock sample, inaugurating its latest assignment that has it exploring the top of an ancient river delta.