The American space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that its Perseverance rover has landed on Mars.
"Perseverance rover has safely landed on Mars," NASA said in a tweet.
Perseverance, which was launched on July 30, 2020, will search for signs of ancient microbial life, collect carefully selected rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) samples for a future return to Earth.
It will characterise Mars' geology and climate, and pave the way for human exploration beyond the Moon. This is NASA's fifth Mars rover and agency's ninth mission for the Red planet.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is also carrying along a technology experiment -- the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter -- which will attempt the first powered and controlled flight on another planet.
Published 19 February 2021, 09:22 IST