Planetary Science

NASA’s Perseverance rover will seek signs of past life on Mars

A plethora of instruments will collect rocks and study the weather on the Red Planet

Image of the Perseverance rover

Perseverance is full of technology to track the weather, collect samples and more.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

NASA’s next rover is a connoisseur of Martian rocks. The main job of the Perseverance rover, set to launch between July 20 and August 11, is to pick out rocks that might preserve signs of past life and store the samples for a future mission back to Earth.