NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Landing

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover makes its final descent to the Red Planet where it will call the Jezero Crater home! Come and watch the live NASA feed with commentary from RMIT's resident Aerospace gurus, Dr. Graham Dorrington and Professor Cees Bil.

Perseverance will touch down on Mars on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, at approximately 7:55AM AEDT where it will call the Jezero Crater home. During landing, the rover plunges through the thin Martian atmosphere, with the heat shield first, at a speed of over 20,000 km/h. A parachute and powered descent slow the rover down allowing a large sky crane to then lower the rover on three bridle cords to land softly on six wheels.

The Jezero Crater, a large impact crater about 45km wide just north of the Martian equator. Jezero once contained a lake, which scientists think is one of the most ideal places to find evidence of ancient microbial life. If life exists anywhere else in our solar system, chances are, it might be at Jezero Crater. The main question Perseverance is trying to answer is: Was there ever ancient life on Mars? To answer that question, the rover will collect and store the most compelling rock and soil samples for return to Earth by a future mission. Once on Earth, scientists can use a variety of sophisticated instruments, many of them too large and bulky to transport to Mars, to help answer this question.

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.

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aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

More information