NASA’s Mars 2020 mission

The largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars is to embark on a journey to search for evidence of past life on the Red Planet – and to lay the groundwork for a mission to send humans into deep space


LANDING: Perseverance will use descent sequence used by Curiosity probe in 2012, plus new Terrain-Relative Navigation system

Feb 18, 2021: Rover dropped to Jezero Crater, which is believed to have held deep lake and is home to best-preserved Martian delta


JEZERO CRATER
Diameter 45km
Delta


Rover path
Search Spots

1km 0.6 miles

River canyon: Carved by water which flowed through crater rim 3.5 billion years ago
Crater rim
Shoreline of former lake
Edge of delta
Ancient lake bed
Landing site
DELTA


TERRAIN-RELATIVE NAVIGATION

1 Camera takes pictures as rover descends

2 Computer compares these to maps of area and adjusts flightpath to avoid hazards

3 Lander lowers rover as close as possible to target site


PERSEVERANCE 

SUPERCAM: Laser blaster can identify chemical compositions on rocks from long distance

Plutonium power source supplies electricity to rover

RIMFAX
Ground- penetrating radar to map geology beneath surface

MOXIE
Experiment to demonstrate how astronauts might produce oxygen from Martian CO2 for breathing and fuel

MEDA
Weather station

MASTCAM-Z
Advanced camera

SHERLOC: Ultraviolet spectrometer searches for organics and minerals

INGENUITY
Drone-like helicopter carried on rover’s belly will demonstrate first powered flight on another planet

PIXL: X-ray spectrometer to identify chemical elements


PERSEVERANCE SPECIFICATIONS 
Length 3m 
Height 2.2m 
Weight 1,025kg


SAMPLE CACHING SYSTEM

1 Drill: Rotary percussive drill cuts out core of Martian rock, encased in sample tube

2 Robot arm: Swings back to rover’s body to place tube in carousel

3 Bit carousel: Moves tube inside rover. Image taken and tube stored

Sample tubes will be left on planet’s surface for return to Earth by future mission, possibly by 2031

1 2 3

Rock core

Sample will slide into titanium tube and be hermetically sealed

14cm


Pictures: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Sources: NASA, Nature, Space.com
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