Perseverance Rover is a man-made spacecraft represented in the Solar System, the region of space around the Sun, our star, within the universe. Its catalogue reference body is Mars. Explore its story and purpose, then find the spacecraft on the interactive 3D space map.

Perseverance Rover — Investigates ancient environments and collects rock samples for possible future return.

Mission and scientific objectives
Perseverance Rover is associated with NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Investigates ancient environments and collects rock samples for possible future return. The mission type is Mars surface rover.

Mission chronology
2021: Landed in Jezero crater.

Five years ago, the most advanced robotic explorer ever sent to the Red Planet landed, “safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.” See how far it’s gotten — scientifically and literally — as it rolls into the rest of the decade.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is searching for signs of ancient microbial life, to advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The rover is collecting core samples of Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and soil), for potential pickup by a future mission that would bring them to Earth for detailed study.

The United States flag adorns an aluminum plate mounted at the base of the mast, or “head,” of NASA’s Perseverance…

Perseverance Discovered Potential Biosignature

In the summer of 2024, Perseverance investigated its “most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet,” according to one mission scientist. It showed signs of past water, organic material, and clues suggesting chemical reactions by microbial life. In September 2025, after a rigorous, yearlong peer-review to scrutinize the Mars 2020 team findings, the journal Nature published the validated results: Perseverance’s "Sapphire Canyon" sample from the rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” contains potential biosignatures — clues that suggest past life may have been present, but that require more data or further study before any conclusions about the absence or presence of life.

...the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars…

Then-acting NASA Administrator, on Sept. 10, 2025, about the potential biosignatures in the “Sapphire Canyon” sample, taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls”

Mars Rock Samples: The Stories They Could Tell

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover is building a unique rock collection, which also includes samples of Mars atmosphere and loose surface material. These samples record the history of the Jezero Crater landing site, and may even preserve signs of ancient life. Learn more about these precious samples, which Mars Sample Return could deliver to Earth for detailed study in the future.

During its first five years on the Martian surface, Perseverance has collected more than two dozen geologically diverse rock samples — including one containing potential biosignatures — explored the history of geology, water, and habitable environments in Jezero crater and on the crater rim, demonstrated proof-of-concept for an off-world helicopter and onsite oxygen production, in preparation for future human exploration, and made numerous science discoveries and technical breakthroughs. Here are just a few.

See what Perseverance has been capturing this week with its cameras.

NASA chose Jezero Crater as the landing site for the Perseverance rover. Scientists believe the area was once flooded with water and was home to an ancient river delta. The process of landing site selection involved a combination of mission team members and scientists from around the world, who carefully examined more than 60 candidate locations on the Red Planet. After the exhaustive five-year study of potential sites, each with its own unique characteristics and appeal, Jezero rose to the top.

Jezero Crater tells a story of the on-again, off-again nature of the wet past of Mars. More than 3.5 billion years ago, river channels spilled over the crater wall and created a lake. Scientists see evidence that water carried clay minerals from the surrounding area into the crater lake. Conceivably, microbial life could have lived in Jezero during one or more of these wet times. If so, signs of their remains might be found in lakebed or shoreline sediments. Scientists will study how the region formed and evolved, seek signs of past life, and collect samples of Mars rock and soil that might preserve these signs.

Jezero Crater is 28 miles (45 kilometers) wide, and is located on the western edge of a flat plain called Isidis Planitia, which lies just north of the Martian equator. The landing site is about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) from the Curiosity rover landing site in Gale Crater.

Perseverance Mars Rover Drive Path Animation

This animated orbital-map view shows the route NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has taken since its February 2021 landing at Jezero Crater to July 2024, when it took its “Cheyava Falls” sample. As of October 2024, the rover has driven over 30 kilometers (18.65 miles), and has collected 24 samples of rock and regolith as well as one air sample.

The Perseverance rover is searching for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars.

The rover’s mission has four science objectives: Studying Mars' Habitability, Seeking Signs of Past Microbial Life, Collecting and Caching Samples, and Preparing for Future Human Missions.

View raw images sent back by Perseverance from its explorations on Mars.

Visit the one-stop-shop for all Perseverance media.

Read updates provided by self-selected Mars 2020 mission team members who love to share with the public what Perseverance is doing.

Your source for everything on or about the Red Planet, continuing NASA's six decades of unparalleled exploration and discoveries — mission news, science findings, unique Mars imagery, and more.

Strapped to the rover's belly for the journey to Mars was a technology demonstration — the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, which completed 72 historic flights. In a feat that's been called a “Wright Brothers moment,” Ingenuity became the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.

‘Tango Delta.Touchdown confirmed!’

Feb. 18, 2021: Watch and hear views and commentary from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lands on Mars. Video includes actual footage from cameras on the spacecraft's entry, descent, and landing suite as it approached the Martian surface.

Perseverance Captures Another Phobos Transit

NASA Tests Featherweight Radar Antenna for SkyFall Mars Helicopters

NASA’s Perseverance Captures Phobos and Earth

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Watches Earth Vanish Behind Martian Moon

Establishing Crew Exposure Limits of Martian Dust

Perseverance Science Highlights

Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover

Part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, at the time of launch, Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover…

Mars is the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots. Learn more about the Mars Missions.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…