Mars 2020 Perseverance Powered Descent Vehicle (PDV) Stack Operations

The Mars Perseverance rover is attached to its rocket-powered descent stage inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 23, 2020. The rover and descent stage are the first spacecraft components to come together for launch — and they will be the last to separate when the spacecraft reaches Mars. At about 65 feet over the Martian surface, separation bolts will fire and the descent stage will lower Perseverance onto the Red Planet. Launch, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket, is targeted between July 17 and Aug. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch.