Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover was launched to the red planet on July 30, 2020 with landing at Jezero crater on February 18, 2021. The powerful Atlas rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida to put the payload on an interplanetary trajectory. The rover is similar to the currently operating Curiosity but with a new sampling and caching system that will collect mars soil and rocks for future return to Earth on another mission. Also new on this mission is a Mars helicopter called Ingenuity that will fly above Martian surface, scouting interesting targets for the rover.