Timeline of Mars 2020

Self-portrait of Mars 2020 containing Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter located at the Ingenuity helicopter drop site (7 April 2021)

Perseverance rover on Mars (artist; 18 February 2021)

The Mars 2020 mission and its rover, Perseverance, and helicopter Ingenuity, were launched from Earth on 30 July 2020. On 15 February 2022, The New York Times reported an overview of Mars 2020 mission events since landing in Jezero crater on Mars in February 2021. As of August 6, 2024, Perseverance has been on the planet Mars for 1231 sols (1265 total days; 3 years, 170 days).

Current weather data on Mars is being monitored by the Curiosity rover and the Insight lander. The Perseverance rover is also collecting weather data. (See the External links section)

Overview of mission

Prelaunch (2012–2020)

• 4 December 2012: Mars 2020 mission announced by NASA.
• 8–10 February 2017: Workshop held to discuss eight proposed landing sites for the mission. The three sites chosen were Jezero crater, Northeastern Syrtis Major Planum, and Columbia Hills.
• 30 July 2020: Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral.

Landing and initial tests (February–May 2021)

February 18: a new crater appears on Mars after impact of the 77-kg piece of tungsten thrown down during the EDL stage

After arriving on the 18th of February, Perseverance focused on validating its systems. During this phase, it used its science instruments for the first time, generated oxygen on Mars with MOXIE, and deployed Ingenuity. Ingenuity began the technology demonstration phase of its mission, completing five flights before transitioning to the operations demonstration phase of its mission.

• 18 February 2021: Landing in Jezero crater on Mars
• 4 March 2021: Perseverance rover's first test drive.
• 5 March 2021: NASA named the Perseverance rover landing site "Octavia E. Butler Landing".
• 3 April 2021: Deployment of Ingenuity
• 8 April 2021: NASA reported the first MEDA weather report on Mars: for 3–4 April 2021, the high was "minus-7.6 degrees, and a low of minus-117.4 degrees ... [winds] gusting to ... 22 mph".
• 19 April 2021: First major flight test of Ingenuity
• 20 April 2021: MOXIE made 5.37 g of oxygen gas from carbon dioxide on its first test on Mars
• 22 April 2021: Second flight test of Ingenuity
• 25 April 2021: Third flight test of Ingenuity
• 30 April 2021: Fourth flight test of Ingenuity.
• 7 May 2021: Fifth flight test of Ingenuity. First one-way flight on Mars. Ingenuity's mission transitions from being a technology demonstration to being an operations demonstration.
• 22 May 2021: Sixth flight test of Ingenuity, first of the operations demonstration. A glitch with the navigation system caused the helicopter to land 5 meters away from its intended landing site.

Perseverance's first test drive (4 March 2021)

Rover's first wheel tracks

Rover's first test drive (animation-gif)

Rocket scour and tracks

Cratered floor campaign (June 2021-April 2022)

Perseverance rover - map of the first science campaign (yellow lines, below the landing site). The blue lines above the landing site correspond to the planned second campaign, although the second campaign did not officially start until the arrival of the rover at Three Forks.

The Cratered Floor Campaign was the first science campaign. It began on 1 June 2021, with the goal of exploring the Crater Floor Fractured Rough and Séítah geologic units. To avoid the sand dunes of the Séítah unit, Perseverance will mostly travel within the Crater Floor Fractured Rough geologic unit or along the boundary between the two units. The first of Perseverance's sample tubes are planned to be filled during this expedition.

After collecting the samples, Perseverance will return to its landing site, before continuing to the delta for its second science campaign. At some point, it will store the filled sample tubes in a designated area for the upcoming Mars sample-return mission. While Perseverance embarked on its first science campaign, Ingenuity continued to travel alongside the rover as part of its operations demonstration campaign.

• 1 June 2021: Perseverance begins its first science campaign.
• 8 June 2021: Seventh flight of Ingenuity.
• 21 June 2021: Eighth flight of Ingenuity. The “watchdog issue”, a recurring issue which occasionally prevented Ingenuity from taking flight, is fixed.
• 5 July 2021: Ninth flight of Ingenuity. This flight is the first to explore areas only an aerial vehicle can, by taking a shortcut over the Séítah unit. The sandy ripples of the Séítah unit would prove too difficult for Perseverance to travel through directly.
• 7 July 2021: To test its sampling system, the rover ran one sample tube through inspection, sealing and storing and the attempt was successful. Up to this point, the rover has now used 1 of its 43 sample tubes.
• 24 July 2021: Tenth flight of Ingenuity.
• 4 August 2021: Eleventh flight of Ingenuity.
• 5-6 August 2021: Perseverance attempted to acquire its first sample from the ancient lakebed by drilling out "finger-size cores of Martian rock for return to Earth." This attempt did not succeed, as the rock sampled was not sufficiently consolidated to produce an intact core and has turned to dust. Up to this point, the rover has now used 2 of its 43 sample tubes. Later on, the mission team confirmed that though soil samples were not cached, but in this process the rover cached the gas samples of the martian atmosphere in it, being the first gas samples cached by the rover.
• 16 August 2021: Twelfth flight of Ingenuity.
• 1 September 2021: A second sampling attempt on a rock, named "Rochette", was successful.
• 4 September 2021: Thirteenth flight of Ingenuity.
• 8 September 2021: A third sampling attempt, also on Rochette, was successful.
• 1 to 14 October 2021: Mars Solar Conjunction.
• 24 October 2021: Fourteenth flight of Ingenuity.
• 6 November 2021: Fifteen flight of Ingenuity.
• 15 November 2021: A sample was taken from the Brac Outcrop in the South Séítah Unit.
• 21 November 2021: Sixteenth flight of Ingenuity.
• 24 November 2021: Another sample was taken from the Brac Outcrop.
• 5 December 2021: Seventeenth flight of Ingenuity. Full data from the flight was not received until later, as Ingenuity initially landed in an area which prevented communication with the rover.
• 15 December 2021: Eighteenth flight of Ingenuity.
• 18 December 2021: A sample was taken from Issole in the South Séítah Unit.
• 29 December 2021: Perseverance attempted to take another sample from Issole, but was unable to successfully cache it.
• 31 January 2021: The failed sample attempt from Issole was abandoned, and a new, successful sample attempt was made on Issole.
• 8 February 2022: Nineteenth flight of Ingenuity. It had been planned for earlier, but a dust storm in the area caused delays.
• 25 February 2022: Twentieth flight of Ingenuity.
• 7 March 2022: A sample was taken from Sid in the Séítah Unit.
• 10 March 2022: Twenty-first flight of Ingenuity.
• 13 March 2022: A second sample was taken from Sid in the Séítah Unit.
• 20 March 2022: Twenty-second flight of Ingenuity.
• 24 March 2022: Twenty-third flight of Ingenuity.
• 28 March 2022: Perseverance enters rapid traverse mode, where it will remain for the rest of the science campaign.
• 3 April 2022: Twenty-fourth flight of Ingenuity.
• 8 April 2022: Twenty-fifth flight of Ingenuity. This flight went faster than all previous flights, at a speed of 5.5 meters per second. It also travelled 704 meters, which was farther than all previous flights.
• 13 April 2022: Perseverance arrives at the Jezero Delta.

Entry-descent-landing debris

Skycrane debris captured by Ingenuity Helicopter on April 3, 2022.

Ingenuity took photos April 19, 2022 of the spacecraft backshell and parachute.

Delta front campaign (April 2022 - Present)

In blue, the planned traverse of Perseverance. The second science campaign began just before the background map transitions to black and white.

The Delta Front Campaign is the second, currently ongoing science campaign of the Mars 2020 mission. Ingenuity continues to travel alongside the rover as part of its operations demonstration campaign. Once Perseverance traverses to the top of the delta, it is expected to begin the third science campaign - the Delta Top Campaign.

• 18 April 2022: Perseverance officially begins the Delta Front Campaign.
• 19 April 2022: Twenty-sixth flight of Ingenuity.
• 21 April 2022: Perseverance leaves rapid traverse mode.
• 23 April 2022: Twenty-seventh flight of Ingenuity.
• 27 April 2022: NASA released images of the backshell that detached from the vehicle containing the Perseverance rover (and companion Ingenuity helicopter) during the landing phase on Mars in February 2021. The backshell and associated parachute were found about a mile from the landing site and images were taken by the companion helicopter during its 26th flight.
• 3 May 2022: NASA looses contact with Ingenuity due to it running out of power during the night.
• 5 May 2022: Contact with Ingenuity is regained. To avoid future losses of power, Ingenuity's heaters will no longer activate when battery temperature drops below -15° Celsius. From now on, Ingenuity will turn off all electronics when the temperature drops below -40°.

Samples cached for the Mars sample-return mission

Further information: Mars sample-return mission

In the frame of the Mars sample-return mission around 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of soil samples along with some Martian gas samples from the atmosphere will be cached. Currently, samples are being cached by Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars. Out of 43 sample tubes, rock sample tubes cached-8, gas sample tubes cached-1, witness tubes cached-1, tubes due to be cached-33. Before launch, 5 of the 43 tubes were designated “witness tubes” and filled with materials that would capture particulates in the ambient environment of Mars.

Mars sample-return mission – First sampling (6 August 2021)

Context

MidView

CloseUp

Sample in drill

Sample Tube 233

Mapping Perseverance's samples collected to date

Perseverance at Rochette rock (10 September 2021)

"Rochette" rock − successful borehole sampling of a second rock (1 September 2021)

Perseverance analyzes Rochette rock (August 2021)

After abrading rock

Bellegarde patch

WATSON view

PIXL view

Location and Current Status

Jezero Crater Formation by asteroid impact

• 
  Overview map of the Perseverance rover
  (18 February 2021)
• 
  Close-up map of the Perseverance rover
  (18 February 2021)
• 
  Mars Perseverance rover – possible routes for exploration and study
• 
  Octavia E. Butler Landing In Jezero Crater
  (5 March 2021)
• 
  Perseverance rover track and Ingenuity helicopter flight zone seen after rover had reached Van Zyl Overlook
• 
  Ingenuity helicopter flight path and Perseverance Traverse Path showing their current locations. Live link
• 
  The distance traveled over time of Perseverance and Ingenuity
• 
  26035 Map-of-Ingenuitys-Ninth-Flight-Path
• 
  Perseverance enters Séítah on sol 201
• 
  Perseverance rover viewed from space
  (28 September 2021)
• 
  Flight Profile for Ingenuity's Flight 15
• 
  Dust storm on Mars - Jezero crater (white circle) (9 January 2022)
• 
  Positioning before the 2021 solar conjunction
  R²¹⁰ is the rover position on sol 210;
  H¹⁶³
  ₁, H¹⁷⁴
  ₂ and H¹⁹³
  ₃ means 1st, 2nd and 3rd landing sites of Ingenuity on the Field H on sols 163, 174 and 193 respectively

Gallery

Mars – Perseverance rover – landing site panoramic view (18 February 2021)

Mars – Perseverance rover – EDL overview (18 February 2021)

Mars Helicopter Route Options out of 'Séítah' with EDL hardware

Self-portraits

Mars 2020 rover – Selfie process (animated; 2:04; 6 April 2021)

Mars 2020 in Jezero crater on Mars — self-portraits

Octavia E. Butler Landing
(February 2021)

Wright Brothers Field
(April 2021)

Van Zyl overlook, (April 2021)

Perseverance spotted by Ingenuity on its 11th Flight (August 2021)

Rochette, September 2021

Videos

• Entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on Mars (animation)
• Mars Perseverance rover - drive view
  (1 July 2021)

Images

Perseverance rover on Mars

• 
  First image received after landing (BW photo)
• 
  First color photo
• 
  Mastcam-Z Calibration target
• 
  PIXL seen on Mars from the left Navcam
• 
  Perseverance's first study target
• 
  Rover test drive
  (7 March 2021)
• 
  SuperCam calibration target with Mars meteorite
• 
  SHERLOC calibration target
• 
  Delta sediment remnant
• 
  PIXL Calibration target
• 
  Artuby outcrop
  (17 June 2021)
• 
  Examining "paver rocks"
  (10 July 2021)
• 
  "CraterFloorFractRough"
  (8 July 2021)
• 
  "CraterFloorFractRough"
  (15 July 2021)
• 
  Jezero crater - Scarp A
  (17 April 2021)
• 
  Garde rock-SHERLOC
  (18 September 2021)
• 
  Garde rock-SHERLOC
  (18 September 2021)
• 
  Dourbes rock-WATSON
  (5 November 2021)
• 
  Dourbes rock-PIXL
  (5 November 2021)
• 
  Perseverance looks back at its tracks
  (17 March 2022)
• 
  Parachute found
  (6 April 2022)
• 
  Drive to Delta
  (Gif; 9 April 2022)
• 
  Jezero Crater Delta view
  (11 April 2022)
• 
  Phobos Solar Eclipse
  (Gif; 20 April 2022)

Ingenuity helicopter's flights on Mars

Flights on Mars – viewed by the Perseverance rover

Ingenuity's first flight
(19 April 2021)

Ingenuity's first flight after 30 secs flying

Ingenuity's second flight
(22 April 2021)

Ingenuity's third fight
(25 April 2021)

Ingenuity's fourth flight
(30 April 2021)

Ingenuity's successful fifth flight to "Airfield B"
(7 May 2021)

Ingenuity helicopter on Mars

Images from Ingenuity helicopter

Ingenuity's first color image after deployment
(4 April 2021)

Ingenuity on sol 45

Ingenuity's first image on first flight – altitude 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Ingenuity landing from its first flight (19 April 2021)

First color aerial image taken – altitude 5.2 m (17 ft) (22 April 2021)

Ingenuity views rover (left-up) from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) (25 April 2021)

Rover from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) high

Ingenuity's shadow during third test flight (25 April 2021)

Ingenuity's fourth flight (30 April 2021)

Ingenuity finds new Airfield B on fourth flight (30 April 2021)

Ingenuity during anomaly survivor sixth flight on sol 91

Ingenuity's fifth flight from 10 m (33 ft) high (7 May 2021)

Ingenuity's sixth flight from 10 m (33 ft) high (22 May 2021)

Ingenuity flight six navcam imagery showing last 29 seconds in flight along with navigation anomaly

The Ingenuity helicopter views the Perseverance rover (left) about 85 m (279 ft) away from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) in the air (25 April 2021)

Ingenuity deployment and pre-flight operations on Mars

Mars Ingenuity helicopter tests

Wright Brothers Field flight zone and rover locations

Map of Wright Brothers Field

Rover view of the field

Flight zone activities

Rover track and Wright Brothers Field

Ingenuity helicopter deployment: out from under the Perseverance rover and pre-flight testing operations

Successful deployment on Mars

Ingenuity helicopter rotor blades unlocked for flying

Ingenuity on sol 48

Ingenuity gives its blades a slow-speed spin up test or 50 rpm test spin on sol 48

Ingenuity gives high-speed spin up test or 2400 rpm test spin on sol 55

Ingenuity base station on rover

Debris shield removed

Legs deployed

Landing

• 
  HiRISE image of Perseverance descent
• 
  HiRISE image (cropped) of descent
• 
  View up at descent stage from Perseverance.
• 
  View of landing from sky crane.
• 
  Dust plume from descent stage right after landing (B+W)
• 
  View of Perseverance from orbit shortly after landing (HiRISE)

Launch

• 
  AV-088, the Atlas V 541 rocket, at launch

Prelaunch

• 
  Artist's rendition of rover
• 
  Rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
• 
  Helicopter team with Ingenuity
• 
  Cruise stage connected to the back shell
• 
  Heat shield and back shell to protect the rover
• 
  Powered descent stage
• 
  Five critical components involved in landing the rover

Other images

• 
  Top of rover with "Family Portrait" (B+W)
• 
  "Family Portrait" decal close-up (with text labels added)
• 
  Mars 2020 COVID-19 healthworkers plate
• 
  Rover DNA inscription
• 
  MOXIE first Martian oxygen production test on 20 April 2021, graph
• 
  The full-scale engineering model of NASA's Perseverance rover, OPTIMISM Rover

Wide images

Scarps Of Jezero Crater - viewed from space (7 October 2021)

Panorama from Perseverance viewing the South Séítah geologic unit (12 September 2021)

Perseverance viewing first drill site (enhanced color; 28 July 2021)

Perseverance views Santa Cruz Hill in Jezero Crater (29 April 2021)

The Ingenuity helicopter views the Perseverance rover (left) about 85 m (279 ft) away from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) in the air (25 April 2021)

Perseverance views Kodiak Hill (18 April 2021)

Panorama from Perseverance - scarps of Jezero Crater (17 April 2021)

Perseverance views "Delta Scarp" from over a mile away (17 March 2021)

Panorama from Perseverance's landing site (ultra-high-rez; 22 February 2021)

Panorama from Perseverance's landing site (21 February 2021)

Panorama of Perseverance views Santa Cruz (16 February 2022)

Mars sunset viewed by the Perseverance rover (9 November 2021)

(view • discuss)

Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlaid with the position of Martian rovers and landers. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations of Martian surface.

---

Clickable image: Clicking on the labels will open a new article.

(   Active •   Inactive •   Planned)

(See also: Mars map; Mars Memorials list)

Beagle 2

Curiosity

Deep Space 2

InSight

Mars 2

Mars 3

Mars 6

Mars Polar Lander ↓

Opportunity

Perseverance

Phoenix

Rosalind Franklin

Schiaparelli EDM

Sojourner

Spirit

Zhurong

Viking 1

Viking 2

(view • discuss)

Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlain with locations of Mars Memorial sites. Hover your mouse over the image to see the names of over 60 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations (+12 to +8 km); followed by pinks and reds (+8 to +3 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevations (down to −8 km). Axes are latitude and longitude; Polar regions are noted.

(See also: Mars map; Mars Rovers map; Mars Memorials list)

(   Named •   Debris •   Lost )

← Beagle 2

Bradbury Landing →

Deep Space 2 ? →

InSight Landing →

Mars 2 ? →

← Mars 3 Landing

Mars 6 ? →

Polar Lander ? ↓

↑ Challenger Memorial Station

↓Octavia E. Butler Landing

↓Valinor Hills Station

↓Wright Brothers Field

Three Forks Sample Depot→

← Green Valley

Schiaparelli EDM →

↓Carl Sagan Memorial Station

Columbia Memorial Station ↑

Thomas Mutch Memorial Station →

Gerald Soffen Memorial Station →

See also

• Astrobiology
• Composition of Mars
• Curiosity rover
• Exploration of Mars
• Geography of Mars
• Geology of Mars
• InSight lander
• List of missions to Mars
• List of rocks on Mars
• Mars Exploration Rover
• Mars Express orbiter
• Mars Odyssey Orbiter
• Mars Orbiter Mission
• Mars Pathfinder (Sojourner rover)
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
• Mars 2020 rover mission
• MAVEN orbiter
• Moons of Mars
• Phoenix lander
• Robotic spacecraft
• Scientific information from the Mars Exploration Rover mission
• Space exploration
• Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory
• U.S. Space Exploration History on U.S. Stamps
• Viking program
• Water on Mars

External links

• Current Weather Report on Mars by the Perseverance rover – MEDA
  • (MarsWxReport/temp; 1st Report/6apr2021; NASA-1; NASA-2)
  • Mars Weather: Perseverance*Curiosity*InSight
• Current Weather Report on Mars by the Curiosity rover
• Current Weather Report on Mars by the InSight lander
• Perseverance rover: Official website
• Mars 2020: Official website
• Mars 2020: Location Maps
• Perseverance at Van Zyl (AVideo360; 1:40; Spring 2021) on YouTube (related site; 2GB PNG-image)
• Video (03:25) – Mars 2020 – Landing on Mars (18 February 2021) on YouTube
• Video (60:00) – Minerals and the Origins of Life – (Robert Hazen; NASA; April 2014)
• Video (86:49) – Search for Life in the Universe – (NASA; July 2014)
• Video (13:33) – Mars Perseverance rover/Ingenuity helicopter report (9 May 2021; CBS-TV, 60 Minutes)
• Video (03:04) − Exploring Jezero Crater − (NASA; December 2021)