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 12, 2022, Perseverance has been on the planet Mars for 526 sols (540 total days; 1 year, 175 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)

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 2022: 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
Ingenuity photographed the spacecraft backshell and parachute (April 19).
Perseverance photographed the spacecraft backshell and parachute (April 14).
Ingenuity photographed an apparent EDL debris (April 3).
Perseverance photographed a thermal blanket from the skycrane 2 km (1.2 mi) away from its crash site.

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 loses contact with Ingenuity due to it running out of power during the night.
  • 5 May 2022: Contact with Ingenuity is regained. To avoid depleting the power, Ingenuity's heaters will not activate when battery temperature drops below -15° Celsius. Ingenuity instead will turn off all electronics when the temperature drops below -40°.

Samples cached for the 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-10, gas sample tubes cached-1, witness tubes cached-1, tubes due to be cached-31. 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 - Sampling Process
Context
MidView
CloseUp
Sample in drill
Sampling drill
Sample Tube 233
Mapping Perseverance's samples collected to date
Perseverance’ sample tubes on a counting board
Sample Details
Samples Taken Date Contents Sample Name and Image Rock Name Core Length (measured by volume stations) Location Notes
Tube 1 22 June 2021
(Sol 121)
Witness Tube (Empty) N/A N/A N/A North Séítah Unit This was taken as a dry-run in preparation for later sampling attempts, clean any contaminants, and did not aim to sample a rock.
Tube 2 6 August 2021
(Sol 164)
Atmospheric Gas PIA24799-MarsPerseveranceRover-SampleTubeInCoringDrill-20210806 (cropped).jpg
Roubion (failed attempt of caching rock sample)
Roubion N/A Polygon Valley, Cratered Floor Fractured Rough Unit Attempted to sample the rock but did not succeed, as they didn't reach the bit carousel and the caching system stored and sealed an empty tube. However in this process, it collected atmospheric samples.
Tube 3 6 September 2021
(Sol 195)
Igneous Rock Sample 1st Perseverance Rock Sample Montdenier 01.jpg
Montdenier
Rochette 5.98 cm (2.35 in) Arturby Ridge, Citadelle, South Séítah Unit Successful sample.
Tube 4 8 September 2021
(Sol 197)
2nd Perseverance Rock Sample Montagnac.jpg
Montagnac
6.14 cm (2.42 in) Sampled from same rock as previous sample.
Tube 5 15 November 2021
(Sol 263)
3rd Perseverance Rock Sample Salette.png
Salette
Brac 6.28 cm (2.47 in) Brac Outcrop, South Séítah Unit
Tube 6 24 November 2021
(Sol 272)
4th Perseverance Rock Sample Coulettes.jpg
Coulettes
3.30 cm (1.30 in)
Tube 7 22 December 2021
(Sol 299)
5th Perseverance Rock Sample Robine.jpg
Robine
Issole 6.08 cm (2.39 in) Issole, South Séítah Unit
Tube 8 29 December 2021
(Sol 306)
6th Perseverance Rock Sample Attempt 1 that was later abandoned due to coring bit dropoff.gif
N/A (Abandoned sample from this site due to Core Bit Dropoff.)
N/A Pebble-sized debris from the first sample fell into the bit carousel during transfer of the coring bit, which blocked the successful caching of the sample. It was decided to abandon this sample and do a second sampling attempt again. Subsequent tests and measures cleared remaining samples in tube and debris in caching system The tube was reused for second sample attempt, which was successful.
31 January 2022
(Sol 338)
6th Perseverance Rock Sample Malay (attempt 2).jpg
Malay
3.07 cm (1.21 in)
Tube 9 7 March 2022
(Sol 372)
7th Perseverance Rock Sample Hahonih.jpg
Ha'ahóni (aka "Hahonih")
Sid 6.50 cm (2.56 in) Octavia E. Butler Landing/Ch’ał outcrop , Séítah Unit
Tube 10 13 March 2022
(Sol 378)
8th Perseverance Rock Sample Atsah.jpg
Atsá (aka "Atsah")
6.00 cm (2.36 in)
Tube 11 7 July 2022
(Sol 491)
Sedimentary Rock Sample Mars Perseverance ZL0 0490 0710454514 206EBY N0261004ZCAM05068 1100LMJ.png
Swift Run
Skinner Ridge 6.69 cm (2.63 in) Skinner Ridge, Delta Front First Deltaic and First sedimentary sample cached by Perseverance.
Tube 12 12 July 2022
(Sol 495)
Mars Perseverance ZL0 0495 0710898083 239EBY N0261004ZCAM05068 1100LMJ.png
Skyland
5.85 cm (2.30 in)
Tube 13 16 July 2022
(Sol 499)
Witness Tube (Empty) N/A N/A N/A Hogwallow Flats, Delta Front This maybe done to clean out any leftover debris during the previous sampling attempts.
Tube 14 27 July 2022
(Sol 510)
Sedimentary Rock Sample Mars Perseverance ZL0 0509 0712138825 443EBY N0261222ZCAM05068 1100LMJ.png
Hazeltop
Wildcat Ridge 5.97 cm (2.35 in) Wildcat Ridge, Delta Front
Tube 15 3 August 2022
(Sol 517)
Mars Perseverance ZL0 0516 0712759576 178EBY N0261222ZCAM05068 1100LMJ.png
Bearwallow
6.24 cm (2.46 in)
Sample Overview Cached Samples
Samples Tubes Cached  (35%)
43
15
All Drilled Holes On Mars By Perseverance (except Atsá sample) (Scrollable image)
Sources:
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

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
Wright Brothers Field
(April 2021)
Van Zyl overlook, (April 2021)
Perseverance spotted by Ingenuity on its 11th Flight (August 2021)
Rochette, September 2021

Videos

Images

Perseverance rover on Mars

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

Launch

Prelaunch

Other images

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)
Acheron FossaeAcidalia PlanitiaAlba MonsAmazonis PlanitiaAonia PlanitiaArabia TerraArcadia PlanitiaArgentea PlanumArgyre PlanitiaChryse PlanitiaClaritas FossaeCydonia MensaeDaedalia PlanumElysium MonsElysium PlanitiaGale craterHadriaca PateraHellas MontesHellas PlanitiaHesperia PlanumHolden craterIcaria PlanumIsidis PlanitiaJezero craterLomonosov craterLucus PlanumLycus SulciLyot craterLunae PlanumMalea PlanumMaraldi craterMareotis FossaeMareotis TempeMargaritifer TerraMie craterMilankovič craterNepenthes MensaeNereidum MontesNilosyrtis MensaeNoachis TerraOlympica FossaeOlympus MonsPlanum AustralePromethei TerraProtonilus MensaeSirenumSisyphi PlanumSolis PlanumSyria PlanumTantalus FossaeTempe TerraTerra CimmeriaTerra SabaeaTerra SirenumTharsis MontesTractus CatenaTyrrhen TerraUlysses PateraUranius PateraUtopia PlanitiaValles MarinerisVastitas BorealisXanthe TerraMap of Mars
The image above contains clickable links
(view • discuss)
Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlain with locations of Mars Lander and Rover 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 Memorials map / list)
(   Active ROVER  Inactive  Active LANDER  Inactive  Future )
Beagle 2
Bradbury Landing
Deep Space 2


InSight Landing
Mars 2
Mars 3
Mars 6
Mars Polar Lander
Challenger Memorial Station
Mars 2020
Green Valley
Schiaparelli EDM
Carl Sagan Memorial Station
Columbia Memorial Station
Thomas Mutch Memorial Station
Gerald Soffen Memorial Station
Acheron FossaeAcidalia PlanitiaAlba MonsAmazonis PlanitiaAonia PlanitiaArabia TerraArcadia PlanitiaArgentea PlanumArgyre PlanitiaChryse PlanitiaClaritas FossaeCydonia MensaeDaedalia PlanumElysium MonsElysium PlanitiaGale craterHadriaca PateraHellas MontesHellas PlanitiaHesperia PlanumHolden craterIcaria PlanumIsidis PlanitiaJezero craterLomonosov craterLucus PlanumLycus SulciLyot craterLunae PlanumMalea PlanumMaraldi craterMareotis FossaeMareotis TempeMargaritifer TerraMie craterMilankovič craterNepenthes MensaeNereidum MontesNilosyrtis MensaeNoachis TerraOlympica FossaeOlympus MonsPlanum AustralePromethei TerraProtonilus MensaeSirenumSisyphi PlanumSolis PlanumSyria PlanumTantalus FossaeTempe TerraTerra CimmeriaTerra SabaeaTerra SirenumTharsis MontesTractus CatenaTyrrhen TerraUlysses PateraUranius PateraUtopia PlanitiaValles MarinerisVastitas BorealisXanthe TerraMap of Mars
The image above contains clickable links
(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
Curiosity
Deep Space 2
InSight
Mars 2
Mars 3
Mars 6
Mars Polar Lander
Opportunity
Pereverance
Phoenix
Schiaparelli EDM lander
Pathfinder
Spirit
Viking 1
Viking 2


See also


This page was last updated at 2022-08-12 17:59 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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