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

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.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this image of its own shadow during its 49th Red Planet flight, which occurred on April 2, 2023. Ingenuity flew faster and higher than ever before on the sortie.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity goes faster and higher than ever before on 49th Red Planet flight

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter broke several off-Earth records during its 49th Martian flight, which occurred on Sunday (April 2).

still image of the sun peeking through clouds on mars with a lower, drifting cloud at right

Perseverance rover snaps gorgeous shots of drifting predawn clouds on Mars (photos)

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Perseverance rover took a brief break from its Mars life hunt on March 18 to capture stunning shots of drifting predawn clouds on the Red Planet.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this image of its own shadow on March 21, 2023, during its 48th flight on the Red Planet.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 48th flight on the Red Planet

By Robert Lea published

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter took to the Martian skies again on Tuesday (March 21), making its 48th flight above the floor of Jezero Crater.

Scene from a flyover video of Mars' Jezero Crater, compiled using data from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Fly over Perseverance rover's Mars stomping grounds in new video

By Robert Lea published

Thanks to stunning footage captured by two Mars orbiters, space fans can take a flight through Jezero Crater, the ancient lakebed that's the home of NASA's Perseverance rover.

zoomed-in photo of martian surface with ingenuity helicopter circled for clarity

Liftoff on Mars! Perseverance rover captures amazing video of Ingenuity helicopter flight

By Elizabeth Howell published

Ingenuity's 47th flight on Mars on March 9 featured a plethora of footage from the drone, flying tens of feet above the surface, as well as its companion rover Perseverance.

NASA's official meatball insignia was designed by James Modarelli in 1959.

Watch NASA discuss its 2024 federal budget request today

By Mike Wall published

NASA will discuss its allocated budget for fiscal year 2024 during a news conference on Monday (March 13), and you can watch it live.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter captured this photo of the sun setting on Mars on Feb. 22, 2023, during its 45th Red Planet flight.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter captures breathtaking shot of Martian sunset (photo)

By Josh Dinner published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter recently took to the skies for its 45th flight, traveling nearly one-third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) — and photographing a Red Planet sunset in the process.

The moon seen from the Artemis 1 Orion capsule on Dec. 5, 2022, near the end of the mission.

NASA gets $27.2 billion in White House's 2024 budget request

By Mike Wall published

President Joe Biden's 2024 federal budget request allocates $27.2 billion to NASA, a 7% increase over the amount the agency got this year.

a variety of rovers, rocket launchers, and helicopters on the Martian surface

The big reveal: What's ahead in returning samples from Mars?

By Leonard David published

The Mars Sample Return mission is an ambitious endeavor that could see Martian geological specimens returned to Earth to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.

shadow of helicopter on ground of mars in black and white

Mars helicopter Ingenuity soars between Red Planet airfields on 46th flight

By Elizabeth Howell published

The helicopter flew a third of a mile on the surface on Feb. 25, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced yesterday (March 1).

A photograph taken by the Perseverance rover of the Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars in April 2021, just after the rover deployed the chopper.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity's historic 1st flights shed light on Martian dust dynamics

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Scientists analyzing videos of Ingenuity's historic first flights on Mars are learning more about dust behavior on the Red Planet.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie looking down at one of 10 sample tubes deposited at the sample depot it created in an area nicknamed Three Forks. This image was taken by the WATSON camera on the rover’s robotic arm on Jan. 20, 2023, the 684th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Signs of Mars life may be too elusive for rovers to detect

By Charles Q. Choi published

The robots currently exploring Mars may not be capable of detecting potential traces of life on the Red Planet, a new study finds.