NASA's 2020 MARS PERSEVERANCE MISSION
Launch of Perseverance Rover on July 30, 2020 Source: NASA Artist Rendering Nuclear Powered Robotic Rover NASA is going back to Mars on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Mission includes the rover Perseverance, a $2.7 billion piece of highly advanced robotic technology. The rover, along with a small helicopter and instruments that it's carrying, will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL. 7 Months Long Journey to Mars The trip to the Red Planet will take 7 months. And then the rover will make a dramatic sky-crane landing onto Mars' Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. For two years, the nuclear powered Perseverance will explore Jezero. The crater is 28 miles wide and in the ancient past it contained a lake and river delta. The rover will search for signs of ancient life, scoop up surface samples and study the crater's geology. In a joint NASA-European Space Agency (ESA) project, the samples will be returned to