NASA's Perseverance Rover 100 Days Out

The Lander Vision System is scheduled to go under the microscope on Nov. 11; and the SuperCam instrument, the day after that. Down the road, on Dec. 18, the team plans to perform a trajectory correction maneuver, using the cruise stage's eight thrusters to refine the spacecraft's path toward Mars.

The mission has already held several test scenarios to help evaluate procedures and train Mars 2020 mission controllers for important milestones to come. During some of these multi-day-long tests, the team encounters unexpected challenges thrown their way by colleagues who play the role of "gremlins." Even with the challenges introduced during a landing rehearsal back on Oct. 29, the team was able to successfully land a simulated Perseverance rover on Mars.

Another important mission milestone will be rehearsed starting next Monday, Nov. 16, when the team begins a five-day simulation of surface operations - including driving the rover and conducting a sampling. In December, the team is expecting a gremlin or two to make an appearance during another five-day simulation of the rover's transition from landing to surface operations.

A key objective of Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans.