Mars 2020 Liftoff

The Sun rises on the Space Coast as NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepares for the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying the agency’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, on July 30, 2020. Liftoff is targeted for 7:50 a.m. EDT. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.