HD - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory High Definition Video

What are some skywatching highlights in August 2020? See the Moon posing with various planets throughout the month, plus catch the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover began its long journey to Mars today by successfully launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a ULA Atlas V rocket. It now begins its seven-month journey to the Red Planet, landing there on Feb. 18, 2021.

To get ready for the launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, NASA invited the public to join a global, collective #CountdownToMars project. Fans from around the world recorded videos of their creative countdowns, giving Perseverance a celebratory sendoff for its launch on July 30, 2020.

Perseverance is set to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. For more information on the rover’s mission, visit: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is heading to the Red Planet to search for signs of ancient life, collect samples for future return to Earth and help pave the way for human exploration. The rover will carry with it several technology demonstrations including a helicopter, which will attempt humanity's first powered flight on another planet. Perseverance has a new set of science instruments and the ability to “self-drive” on the Martian surface.

The Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as early as July 30. It is set to land at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

For more information on Mars 2020, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/perseverance and https://mars.nasa.gov/perseverance

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In February 2020, NASA’s Perseverance Rover began its long journey to Mars by first traveling across the United States. The rover was built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and then carefully packed and flown to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. There, engineers integrated the rover with the spacecraft that carries it to Mars, and the Atlas V rocket chosen to send it on its way.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will make history's first attempt at powered flight on another planet next spring. It is riding with the agency's next mission to Mars (the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover) as it launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station later this summer. Perseverance, with Ingenuity attached to its belly, will land on Mars February 18, 2021.

As a technology demonstration, Ingenuity is testing a new capability for the first time: showing controlled flight is possible in the very thin Martian atmosphere. If successful, Ingenuity could lead to an aerial dimension to space exploration, aiding both robots and humans in the future.

For more about Ingenuity, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech