On February 18, 2021, NASA’s Mars rover, “perseverance,” went into Mars’s atmosphere and landed on the surface.  The main job of the perseverance rover is to collect rock samples. In 6 to 8 years, there will be a retrieval mission so that scientists can analyze the samples and try to find evidence of ancient microbial life. Perseverance is the biggest rover NASA has sent to Mars. It’s almost the size of a car. Perseverance will also analyze rock samples on mars with its onboard geology lab. Perseverance sent the first color pictures from the surface of Mars, and you can find those at JPL’s official website. Perseverance is the first rover to carry microphones onboard, so it can record sounds from Mars. The rover is carrying a small helicopter called Ingenuity. Ingenuity is the flying thing sent to another planet. It will be used to look around Mars for planetary features that perseverance can’t see. One day, helicopters like Ingenuity might be useful for astronauts living on the surface of Mars.

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https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/perseverances-first-full-color-look-at-mars

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-reveal-new-video-images-from-mars-perseverance-rover

https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/18/1019069/nasa-perseverance-rover-has-landed-on-mars/