NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Enters Third Year in Search for Signs of Life at Jezero Crater

After completing the first sample depot on another world, the rover continues its hunt for Mars rocks worthy of study on Earth.

NASA’s Perseverance rover will celebrated its second anniversary on the surface of Mars on Saturday, February 18. Since arriving at Jezero Crater in 2021, the six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover has been examining geologic features and collecting samples of the Red Planet that are central to the first step of the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign.

Scientists want to study Martian samples with powerful lab equipment on Earth to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to better understand the processes that have shaped the surface of Mars.