NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance is set to complete its most dangerous part of the mission Thursday as it barrels through the Martian atmosphere and plops down on the red planet.
After launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in July, the spacecraft with the rover is approaching Mars at around 112,000 mph.
The arrival is known as the entry, descent and landing sequence and includes a complicated series of steps to bring the rover down to the ground at about 1.5 mph.
Formidable challenges will present themselves in the form of sand, boulders and impact craters near the target landing area called Jezero Crater, a 3.5 billion-year-old lake bed.