After seven months in space, NASA's Perseverance rover survived a nail-biting landing phase to touch down gently on the surface of Mars on Thursday. The rover is now ready to embark on its mission to search for the signs of ancient microbial life. Over the course of several years, Perseverance will attempt to collect 30 rock and soil samples in sealed tubes. They will eventually be sent back to Earth sometime in the 2030s for lab analysis. US President Joe Biden hailed Perseverance's "historic" landing.
About the size of an SUV, it weighs a ton, is equipped with a seven foot (two meter) long robotic arm, has 19 cameras, two microphones, and a suite of cutting-edge instruments to assist in its scientific goals.