Timeline of Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 mission and its rover, Perseverance, and helicopter Ingenuity, were launched from Earth on 30 July 2020. As of December 16, 2021, Perseverance has been on the planet Mars for 293 sols (301 total days; 301 days) since landing on 18 February 2021. Current weather data on Mars is being gathered by the Curiosity rover and the Insight lander.[1][2] The Perseverance rover will also collect weather data. (See the last section External links)

Self-portrait of Mars 2020 containing Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter located at the Ingenuity helicopter drop site (7 April 2021)
Perseverance rover on Mars (artist; 18 February 2021)

Events

Prelaunch (2012–2020)

Landing and initial tests (February–May 2021)
February 18: a new crater appears on Mars after impact of the 77-kg piece of tungsten thrown down during the EDL stage

After arriving on the 18th of February, Perseverance focused on validating its systems. During this phase, it used its science instruments for the first time,[3] generated oxygen on Mars with MOXIE,[4] and deployed Ingenuity. Ingenuity began the technology demonstration phase of its mission, completing five flights before transitioning to the operations demonstration phase of its mission.

  • 18 February 2021: Landing in Jezero crater on Mars
  • 4 March 2021: Perseverance rover's first test drive.
  • 5 March 2021: NASA named the Perseverance rover landing site "Octavia E. Butler Landing".[5]
  • 3 April 2021: Deployment of Ingenuity
  • 8 April 2021: NASA reported the first MEDA weather report on Mars: for 3–4 April 2021, the high was "minus-7.6 degrees, and a low of minus-117.4 degrees ... [winds] gusting to ... 22 mph".[6]
  • 19 April 2021: First major flight test of Ingenuity
  • 20 April 2021: MOXIE made 5.37 g of oxygen gas from carbon dioxide on its first test on Mars
  • 22 April 2021: Second flight test of Ingenuity[7]
  • 25 April 2021: Third flight test of Ingenuity
  • 30 April 2021: Fourth flight test of Ingenuity.[8]
  • 7 May 2021: Fifth flight test of Ingenuity.[9] First one-way flight on Mars. Ingenuity's mission transitions from being a technology demonstration to being an operations demonstration.[10][11]
  • 22 May 2021: Sixth flight test of Ingenuity, first of the operations demonstration.[12] A glitch with the navigation system caused the helicopter to land 5 meters away from its intended landing site.[13]
Perseverance's first test drive (4 March 2021)
Rover's first wheel tracks
Rover's first test drive (animation-gif)
Rocket scour and tracks

Cratered floor campaign (June 2021-present)
Perseverance rover - map of the first science campaign (yellow lines, below the landing site). The blue lines above the landing site correspond to the planned second campaign.[14]

The Cratered Floor Campaign was the first science campaign.[15] It began on 1 June 2021, with the goal of exploring the Crater Floor Fractured Rough and Séítah geologic units. To avoid the sand dunes of the Séítah unit, Perseverance will mostly travel within the Crater Floor Fractured Rough geologic unit or along the boundary between the two units. The first of Perseverance's sample tubes are planned to be filled during this expedition.[14]

After collecting the samples, Perseverance will return to its landing site, before continuing north for its second science campaign. At some point, it will store the filled sample tubes in a designated area for the upcoming Mars sample-return mission.[16] While Perseverance is embarking on its first science campaign, Ingenuity will continue to travel alongside the rover as part of its operations demonstration campaign.[10]

  • 1 June 2021: Perseverance begins its first science campaign.[14]
  • 8 June 2021: Seventh flight of Ingenuity.[17]
  • 21 June 2021: Eighth flight of Ingenuity. The “watchdog issue”, a recurring issue which occasionally prevented Ingenuity from taking flight, is fixed.[18]
  • 5 July 2021: Ninth flight of Ingenuity. This flight is the first to explore areas only an aerial vehicle can, by taking a shortcut over the Séítah unit. The sandy ripples of the Séítah unit would prove too difficult for Perseverance to travel through directly.[19][20][21]
  • 7 July 2021: To test its sampling system, the rover ran one sample tube through inspection, sealing and storing and the attempt was successful. Up to this point, the rover has now used 1 of its 43 sample tubes.[22]
  • 24 July 2021: Tenth flight of Ingenuity.[23]
  • 4 August 2021: Eleventh flight of Ingenuity.[24]
  • 5-6 August 2021: Perseverance attempted to acquire its first sample from the ancient lakebed by drilling out "finger-size cores of Martian rock for return to Earth."[25][26][27] This attempt did not succeed, as the rock sampled was not sufficiently consolidated to produce an intact core and has turned to dust.[28] Up to this point, the rover has now used 2 of its 43 sample tubes.[29] Later on, the mission team confirmed that though soil samples were not cached, but in this process the rover cached the gas samples of the martian atmosphere in it, being the first gas samples cached by the rover.[30]
  • 16 August 2021: Twelfth flight of Ingenuity.[31]
  • 1 September 2021: A second sampling attempt on a rock, named "Rochette", was successful.[32][33]
  • 4 September 2021: Thirteenth flight of Ingenuity.[34]
  • 8 September 2021: A third sampling attempt, also on Rochette, was successful.[35]
  • 1 to 14 October 2021: Mars Solar Conjunction.
  • 24 October 2021: Fourteenth flight of Ingenuity.
  • 6 November 2021: Fifteen flight of Ingenuity.[36]
  • 21 November 2021: Sixteenth flight of Ingenuity.[37][38]
  • 5 December 2021: Seventeenth flight of Ingenuity. Full data from the flight was not received until later, as Ingenuity initially landed in an area which prevented communication with the rover.[39]

Samples cached for the Mars sample-return mission
Further information: Mars sample-return mission

In the frame of the Mars sample-return mission around 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of soil samples along with some Martian gas samples from the atmosphere will be cached. Currently, samples are being cached by Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars. Out of 43 sample tubes, soil sample tubes cached-3,[40] gas sample tubes cached-1,[30] witness tubes cached-1,[22] tubes due to be cached-38. Before launch, 5 of the 43 tubes were designated “witness tubes” and filled with materials that would capture particulates in the ambient environment of Mars.[41]

Mars sample-return mission – First sampling (6 August 2021)
Context
MidView
CloseUp
Sample in drill
Sample Tube 233
Samples Taken Date Contents Sample Name Rock Name Location Notes
Sample Attempt 1[22] 7 July 2021 Witness Tube N/A N/A North Séítah Unit[42] This was taken as a dry-run in preparation for later sampling attempts, and did not aim to sample a rock.
Sample Attempt 2 5 August 2021 Atmospheric Gas N/A Roubion Cratered Floor Fractured Rough Unit[43] Attempted to sample the rock but did not succeed
Sample Attempt 3[44] 1 September 2021 Soil Sample Montdenier[45] Rochette Citadelle, Cratered Floor Fractured Rough Unit[46] First successful sample[47]
Sample Attempt 4[35] 8 September 2021 Soil Sample Montagnac[45] Rochette Citadelle, Cratered Floor Fractured Rough Unit Sampled from same rock as previous.
Sample Attempt 5 15 November 2021 Soil Sample Brac Outcrop, South Séítah Unit[48]
Perseverance at Rochette rock (10 September 2021)
"Rochette" rock − successful borehole sampling of a second rock (1 September 2021)
Perseverance analyzes Rochette rock (August 2021)
Rover studies rock
After abrading rock
Bellegarde patch
WATSON view
PIXL view

Location (2021)
  • Overview map of the Perseverance rover
    (18 February 2021)
  • Close-up map of the Perseverance rover
    (18 February 2021)
  • Mars Perseverance rover – possible routes for exploration and study
  • Octavia E. Butler Landing In Jezero Crater
    (5 March 2021)[5]
  • Perseverance rover track and Ingenuity helicopter flight zone seen after rover had reached Van Zyl Overlook
  • Ingenuity helicopter flight path and Perseverance Traverse Path showing their current locations. Live link
  • The distance traveled over time of Perseverance and Ingenuity
  • 26035 Map-of-Ingenuitys-Ninth-Flight-Path
  • Perseverance enters Séítah on sol 201
  • Perseverance rover viewed from space
    (28 September 2021)
  • Flight Profile for Ingenuity's Flight 15
Mars – Perseverance rover – landing site panoramic view (18 February 2021)
Mars – Perseverance rover – EDL overview (18 February 2021)

Self-portraits
Mars 2020 in Jezero crater on Mars — self-portraits
Octavia E. Butler Landing
(February 2021)
Wright Brothers Field
(April 2021)
Van Zyl overlook,[lower-alpha 1] (April 2021)
Perseverance spotted by Ingenuity on its 11th Flight (August 2021)
Rochette, September 2021

Perseverance rover on Mars
  • First image received after landing (BW photo)
  • First color photo
  • Mastcam-Z Calibration target[49]
  • PIXL seen on Mars from the left Navcam
  • Perseverance's first study target
  • Rover test drive
    (7 March 2021)
  • SuperCam calibration target with Mars meteorite
  • SHERLOC calibration target
  • Delta sediment remnant
  • PIXL Calibration target
  • Artuby outcrop
    (17 June 2021)
  • Examining "paver rocks"
    (10 July 2021)
  • "CraterFloorFractRough"
    (8 July 2021)
  • "CraterFloorFractRough"
    (15 July 2021)
  • Jezero crater - Scarp A
    (17 April 17, 2021)

Ingenuity helicopter's flights on Mars
Flights on Mars – viewed by the Perseverance rover
Ingenuity's first flight
(19 April 2021)
Ingenuity's first flight after 30 secs flying
Ingenuity's second flight
(22 April 2021)
Ingenuity's third fight
(25 April 2021)
Ingenuity's fourth flight
(30 April 2021)
Ingenuity's successful fifth flight to "Airfield B"
(7 May 2021)[50]

Ingenuity helicopter on Mars
Images from Ingenuity helicopter[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
Ingenuity's first color image after deployment
(4 April 2021)[lower-alpha 4]
Ingenuity on sol 45
Ingenuity's first image on first flight – altitude 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Ingenuity landing from its first flight (19 April 2021)
First color aerial image taken – altitude 5.2 m (17 ft) (April 22, 2021)
Ingenuity views rover (left-up) from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) (April 25, 2021)
Rover from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) high
Ingenuity's shadow during third test flight (25 April 2021)
Ingenuity's fourth flight (30 April 2021)
Ingenuity finds new Airfield B on fourth flight (30 April 2021)
Ingenuity during anomaly survivor sixth flight on sol 91
Ingenuity's fifth flight from 10 m (33 ft) high (7 May 2021)
Ingenuity's sixth flight from 10 m (33 ft) high (22 May 2021)
Ingenuity flight six navcam imagery showing last 29 seconds in flight along with navigation anomaly
The Ingenuity helicopter views the Perseverance rover (left) about 85 m (279 ft) away from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) in the air (25 April 2021)

Ingenuity deployment and pre-flight operations on Mars
Mars Ingenuity helicopter tests
Wright Brothers Field flight zone and rover locations
Map of Wright Brothers Field
Rover view of the field
Flight zone activities
Rover track and Wright Brothers Field
Ingenuity helicopter deployment: out from under the Perseverance rover and pre-flight testing operations
Successful deployment on Mars
Ingenuity helicopter rotor blades unlocked for flying
Ingenuity on sol 48[lower-alpha 5]
Ingenuity gives its blades a slow-speed spin up test or 50 rpm test spin on sol 48
Ingenuity gives high-speed spin up test or 2400 rpm test spin on sol 55[lower-alpha 5]
Ingenuity base station on rover
Debris shield removed
Legs deployed

Landing
  • HiRISE image of Perseverance descent
  • HiRISE image (cropped) of descent
  • View up at descent stage from Perseverance.
  • View of landing from sky crane.
  • Dust plume from descent stage right after landing (B+W)
  • View of Perseverance from orbit shortly after landing (HiRISE)

Launch
  • AV-088, the Atlas V 541 rocket, at launch

Prelaunch
  • Artist's rendition of rover
  • Rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
  • Helicopter team with Ingenuity
  • Cruise stage connected to the back shell
  • Heat shield and back shell to protect the rover
  • Powered descent stage
  • Five critical components involved in landing the rover

Other images
  • Top of rover with "Family Portrait" (B+W)
  • "Family Portrait" decal close-up (with text labels added)[49]
  • Mars 2020 COVID-19 healthworkers plate
  • Rover DNA inscription
  • MOXIE first Martian oxygen production test on April 20, 2021, graph
  • The full-scale engineering model of NASA's Perseverance rover, OPTIMISM Rover[lower-alpha 6]

Wide images
Scarps Of Jezero Crater - viewed from space (7 October 2021)
Panorama from Perseverance viewing the South Séítah geologic unit (12 September 2021)
Perseverance viewing first drill site (enhanced color; 28 July 2021)
Perseverance views Santa Cruz Hill in Jezero Crater (29 April 2021)
The Ingenuity helicopter views the Perseverance rover (left) about 85 m (279 ft) away from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) in the air (25 April 2021)
Perseverance views Kodiak Hill (18 April 2021)
Panorama from Perseverance - scarps of Jezero Crater (17 April 2021)
Perseverance views "Delta Scarp" from over a mile away (17 March 2021)
Panorama from Perseverance's landing site (ultra-high-rez; 22 February 2021)
Panorama from Perseverance's landing site (21 February 2021)
Mars susnset viewed by the Perseverance rover (9 November 2021)
(view • discuss)
Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlain with locations of Mars Lander and Rover sites. Hover your mouse over the image to see the names of over 60 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations (+12 to +8 km); followed by pinks and reds (+8 to +3 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevations (down to −8 km). Axes are latitude and longitude; Polar regions are noted.
(See also: Mars map; Mars Memorials map / list)
(   Active ROVER •   Inactive •   Active LANDER •   Inactive •   Future )
(view • discuss)
Interactive image map of the global topography of Mars, overlain with locations of Mars Memorial sites. Hover your mouse over the image to see the names of over 60 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Whites and browns indicate the highest elevations (+12 to +8 km); followed by pinks and reds (+8 to +3 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevations (down to −8 km). Axes are latitude and longitude; Polar regions are noted.
(See also: Mars map; Mars Rovers map; Mars Memorials list)
(   Named •   Debris •   Lost )

See also

Notes
  1. Aerial image by the helicopter Ingenuity
  2. All images taken by Ingenuity are taken from black-and-white downward-facing navigation camera or horizon-facing terrain camera[51]
  3. Ingenuity legs are seen clearly on the corners of the each image
  4. Perseverance rover wheels are clearly seen in top corners
  5. Please see the difference between the image on high-speed spin up test and the one on sol 48, that is the image on sol 48 has the upper blade in diagonal position while the high-speed spin up test has lower blade in diagonal position
  6. note the diffference it is on earth and run by electric cables, while perseverance is on mars run by MMRTG

References
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  2. Berger, Eric (20 February 2019). "With the best air pressure sensor ever on Mars, scientists find a mystery". Ars Technica. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  3. mars.nasa.gov. "Perseverance Rover's SuperCam Science Instrument Delivers First Results". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  4. mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Extracts First Oxygen From Red Planet". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  5. Staff (5 March 2021). "Welcome to 'Octavia E. Butler Landing'". NASA. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  6. Cappucci, Matthew (8 April 2021). "NASA receives first weather reports from Perseverance rover on Mars at Jezero Crater – The weather data is crucial as the first flight of Ingenuity draws near". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  7. mars.nasa.gov. "We Are Prepping for Ingenuity's Third Flight Test". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. mars.nasa.gov. "Ingenuity Completes Its Fourth Flight". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  9. mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Completes First One-Way Trip". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter to Begin New Demonstration Phase". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  11. mars.nasa.gov. "Why Ingenuity's Fifth Flight Will Be Different". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  12. NASA/JPL. "Plans Underway for Ingenuity's Sixth Flight". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
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  17. June 2021, Mike Wall 09 (9 June 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 7th flight on the Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
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  19. Laboratory, Håvard Grip, Chief Pilot & Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project at NASA's Jet Propulsion. "We're Going Big for Flight 9". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  20. July 2021, Meghan Bartels 06 (6 July 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity sails through 9th flight on the Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  21. Scientist, Håvard F. Grip, Ingenuity Chief Pilot, and Ken Williford, Perseverance Deputy Project. "Flight 9 Was a Nail-Biter, but Ingenuity Came Through With Flying Colors". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  22. "Sample Caching Dry Run, 1st sample tube cached". Twitter. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  23. mars.nasa.gov. "Aerial Scouting of 'Raised Ridges' for Ingenuity's Flight 10". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  24. mars.nasa.gov. "North-By-Northwest for Ingenuity's 11th Flight". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  25. Voosen, Paul (31 July 2021). "Mars rover's sampling campaign begins". Science. AAAS. 373 (6554): 477. doi:10.1126/science.373.6554.477. PMID 34326215. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  26. Voosem, Paul (21 June 2021). "NASA's Perseverance rover to drill first samples of martian rock". Science. AAAS. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  27. mars.nasa.gov. "On the Eve of Perseverance's First Sample". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  28. mars.nasa.gov. "Assessing Perseverance's First Sample Attempt". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  29. "NASA's first Mars sample appears to have crumbled to bits". Science. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  30. mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Perseverance Plans Next Sample Attempt". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  31. Teddy Tzanetos (15 August 2021). "Better By the Dozen – Ingenuity Takes on Flight 12". Status #321. NASA/JPL. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  32. Fox, Karen; Johnson, Alana; Agle, AG (2 September 2021). "NASA's Perseverance Rover Successfully Cores Its First Rock". NASA. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  33. Chang, Kenneth (3 September 2021). "On Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover Drilled the Rocks It Came For - After an earlier drilling attempt failed to collect anything, the rover appeared to gather its first sample. But mission managers need to take another look before sealing the tube". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  34. mars.nasa.gov. "Lucky 13 – Ingenuity to Get Lower for More Detailed Images During Next Flight". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  35. "https://twitter.com/nasajpl/status/1435772707254063109". Twitter. Retrieved 9 September 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  36. mars.nasa.gov. "Flight #15 - Start of the Return Journey". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  37. mars.nasa.gov. "Flight 16 – Short Hop to the North". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  38. published, Meghan Bartels (23 November 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity soars on 16th Red Planet flight". Space.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  39. mars.nasa.gov. "Flight 17 – Discovering Limits". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  40. "3rd soil sample tube cached". nasa.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  41. mars.nasa.gov. "Perseverance Sample Tube 266". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  42. https://jpl.nasa.gov. "Witness Tube in Perseverance Sample Caching System". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  43. mars.nasa.gov. "Perseverance's Drive to Citadelle". NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  44. mars.nasa.gov. "Kicking off the Sampling Sol Path at Citadelle". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  45. Margetta, Robert (10 September 2021). "NASA's Perseverance Rover Collects Puzzle Pieces of Mars' History". NASA. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  46. https://jpl.nasa.gov. "Perseverance's Navigation Camera Captures Sample Borehole". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  47. Chang, Kenneth (7 September 2021). "NASA's Perseverance Rover Stashes First Mars Rock Sample - The rock, sealed in a tube, is the first of many the robotic explorer will collect to one day send back to Earth for scientists to study". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  48. mars.nasa.gov. "New Software, New Drill Target, and an Existential Question". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  49. Staff (7 March 2021). "Messages on Mars Perseverance Rover". NASA. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  50. Chang, Kenneth (7 May 2021). "NASA Mars Helicopter Makes One-Way Flight to New Mission - Ingenuity has flown almost flawlessly through the red planet's thin air and will now assist the science mission of the Perseverance rover". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  51. "Raw Images From Ingenuity Helicopter". NASA. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
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