Landing on Mars: Seven Minutes of Terror

Explanation: Starting Thursday, there may be an amazing new robotic explorer on Mars. Or there may be a new pile of junk . It all likely depends on things going correctly in the minutes after the Mars 2020 mission arrives at its new home planet and attempts to deploy the Perseverance rover . Arguably the most sophisticated landing yet attempted on the red planet, consecutive precision events will involve a heat shield , a parachute, several rocket maneuvers, and the automatic operation of an unusual device called a Sky Crane . Thursday's Seven Minutes of Terror echo the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars in 2012, as depicted in the featured video . If successful, the car-sized Perseverance rover will rest on the surface of Mars , soon to begin exploring Jezero Crater to better determine the habitability of this seemingly barren world to life -- past, present, and future. Although multiple media outlets may cover this event, one way to watch these landing events unfold is on the NASA channel live on the web.

News: NASA Perseverance Coverage