NASA's Perseverance rover is on the way to Mars, as the space agency expects the vehicle to land on martian ground this Thursday, Space News reported Tuesday. NASA reported that the Mars 2020 spacecraft, which contains Perseverance, is operating as expected in transit to the Jezero Crater, SpaceNews reported on Tuesday.
“Perseverance is operating perfectly right now, and all systems are go for landing,” Jennifer Trosper, deputy project manager for the mission, said at the briefing.
Perseverance is designed to collect rock samples and data on possible signs of life on the crater. The rover will utilize a landing system based on the one used by its predecessor, 2012's Curiosity rover.
“The targeting is on the bull’s-eye, and we are headed exactly where we want to be for Mars,” added Trosper. “If all goes well, we could potentially see some images by the end of the day. If not, it’s possible that something happened that maybe caused the vehicle to go into a safing mode after landing.”
