Achieving a major milestone in the ambitious mission to Mars, NASA has launched it’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter topped on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket on July 30 at 5:20 PM. NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover that was lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida will land on the Red Planet February 18, 2021, and will conduct its ‘main job’ of finding signs of ancient life along with collecting rock and soil samples for a possible return to Earth making it the first rover for Astrobiology. The entire duration of the mission under NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is nearly 687 earth days that sums up one Mars year.

“Perseverance is powered and ready to go.” We are just a few minutes away from today’s scheduled 7:50 a.m. EDT liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. The terminal countdown is activated.