NASA Mars 2020 · Active
The most advanced rover ever sent to Mars, exploring Jezero Crater — a 45 km-wide ancient lake basin — seeking signs of past microbial life and caching rock samples for future return to Earth. Landed 18 February 2021 with the Ingenuity helicopter, 23 cameras and seven science instruments.
Position data refreshes every 6 hours from NASA JPL
Perseverance's current position and full traverse path in Jezero Crater, rendered from NASA JPL waypoint data. The rover landed on the crater floor in February 2021, explored the ancient river delta, and is now studying the crater rim geology. Sol markers show individual drive endpoints along the route.
Most recent raw images from Perseverance's cameras, fetched from NASA JPL. Click any photo to view full resolution. For a complete browsable gallery, see Mars Rover Photos →
Jezero Crater was once home to an ancient lake fed by a river that carved a visible delta into the crater's western rim. Billions of years ago, water filled the crater to a depth of hundreds of metres, depositing sediment rich in clay minerals — exactly the kind of environment that could have preserved signs of microbial life. The delta, fan-shaped and layered, is one of the best-preserved ancient deltas ever found on Mars, making Jezero one of the highest-priority astrobiology targets in the solar system.
Perseverance has four core objectives: search for biosignatures — chemical and morphological evidence of past microbial life — in Jezero's lake and delta sediments; collect, seal and cache rock and soil samples in titanium tubes for eventual retrieval by the NASA–ESA Mars Sample Return campaign; test MOXIE, a technology for producing oxygen from Mars's 96% CO₂ atmosphere to support future crewed missions; and demonstrate the Ingenuity helicopter, proving powered flight on another planet is achievable.
Ingenuity arrived on Mars strapped to Perseverance's belly, deployed on Sol 39, and made history with the first powered flight on another planet on 19 April 2021. Originally planned for just 5 flights over 30 days, Ingenuity flew 72 times over nearly three years, covering over 17 km of Martian terrain. It served as an aerial scout for Perseverance, photographing terrain ahead and identifying science targets from above. A damaged rotor blade on its final landing in January 2024 ended its operational life, but Ingenuity's legacy is transformative — NASA is now planning larger Mars rotorcraft for future missions.
The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment successfully extracted oxygen from the Martian atmosphere 16 times during its mission. Each run produced about 10 grams of O₂ per hour — roughly enough for an astronaut to breathe for 10 minutes. While the quantities are small, MOXIE proved the core technology works. Scaled-up versions could produce breathable air and liquid oxygen rocket propellant from local resources, dramatically reducing the mass that future crewed missions need to carry from Earth.
Two zoomable cameras on the mast, capable of panoramic and stereoscopic imaging with 3:1 zoom. Takes colour photos, video, and 3D images to study surface geology at a distance and guide rover navigation.
Fires a laser at rocks up to 7 metres away, analysing the resulting plasma with spectrometers to determine mineral composition. Also includes a microphone — the first to record sounds on Mars, capturing wind, laser strikes and Ingenuity's rotor buzz.
Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry — an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on the robotic arm that maps the elemental composition of rock surfaces at the scale of a grain of sand. Critical for identifying biosignature-bearing minerals.
Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals — a UV laser spectrometer paired with the WATSON close-up camera. Detects organic molecules and minerals formed in water.
Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment — a ground-penetrating radar that images geological structures up to 10 metres below the surface. The first GPR on a Mars rover, revealing buried layers, ice and rock boundaries.
Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer — a comprehensive weather station measuring temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, pressure, radiation and dust particle size. Provides the most detailed Mars weather data ever collected.
3.0 × 2.7 × 2.2 m — roughly the size of a car. The robotic arm extends 2.1 m and holds a coring drill, PIXL and SHERLOC instruments.
1,025 kg — the heaviest rover ever landed on Mars. The rover body is built on the same chassis design as Curiosity with upgraded wheels and instruments.
Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) using plutonium-238 decay heat. Produces ~110 watts of electrical power continuously, day and night, regardless of dust or seasons.
Top speed 152 m/hr (0.152 km/hr). Uses autonomous navigation (AutoNav) to drive faster than any previous rover, covering up to 200+ metres per sol when terrain permits.
X-band direct-to-Earth antenna plus UHF relay via Mars orbiters (MRO, MAVEN, TGO). Data rates up to 2 Mbps via orbiter relay, 160 bps direct. Signal travel time: 3–22 minutes one-way depending on orbital positions.
US$2.7 billion total mission cost (development + launch + operations). Launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 from Cape Canaveral on 30 July 2020.