Timeline of Mars 2020
The Mars 2020 mission, consisting of the rover Perseverance and helicopter Ingenuity, was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021. As of,, Perseverance has been on the planet for sols. Ingenuity operated for sols until its rotor blades, possibly all four, were damaged during the landing of flight 72 on January 18, 2024, causing NASA to retire the craft.
Current weather data on Mars is being monitored by the Curiosity rover and had previously been monitored by the Insight lander. The Perseverance rover is also collecting weather data.
Mission overview
Prelaunch (2012–2020)
The Mars 2020 mission was announced by NASA on December 4, 2012. In 2017 the three sites were chosen as potential landing locations, with Jezero crater selected as the landing location, and launched on July 30th, 2020, from Cape Canaveral.Landing and initial tests (February–May 2021)
After arriving on February 18, Perseverance focused on validating its systems. During this phase, it used its science instruments for the first time, generated oxygen on Mars with MOXIE, 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.Cratered floor campaign (June 2021-April 2022)
The Cratered Floor Campaign was the first science campaign. It began on June 1, 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 mostly traveled within the Crater Floor Fractured Rough geologic unit or along the boundary between the two units. The first nine of Perseverances sample tubes were to be filled during this expedition, including the first three 'witness tubes'.After collecting the samples, Perseverance returned to its landing site, before continuing to the delta for its second science campaign. Some of the sample tubes filled during this campaign were later stored in a designated area for the upcoming NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return mission, during the Delta Front Campaign. While Perseverance embarked on its first science campaign, Ingenuity continued to travel alongside the rover as part of its operations demonstration campaign. Ingenuity's sixth through twenty-fifth flights were completed during this phase, achieving an at-the-time speed record of 5.5 meters per second.
Delta front campaign (April 2022 - January 2023)
The Delta Front Campaign was the second science campaign of the Mars 2020 mission. The campaign began with Ingenuity continuing to travel alongside the rover as part of its operations demonstration campaign, and Perseverance leaving the rapid traverse mode it had entered at the end of the last mission to rapidly reach the delta. During the campaign, Perseverance would take a further nine samples, in addition to two further witness tubes. Ingenuity would make its 41th flight during this mission. An incident occurred in which Ingenuity was unable to sufficiently charge during the night, leading to a change in how Ingenuity manages its heaters. The MOXIE experiment continued to run, generating a record amount of oxygen-per-hour on Mars. The campaign concluded with Perseverance reaching the top of the delta and the completion of its first sample depot.Upper fan campaign (January 2023 - September 2023)
The Upper Fan Campaign, also called the Delta Top Campaign, was the third science campaign of the Mars 2020 mission. Whereas prior campaigns investigated areas that are believed to have been submerged in an ancient lake, this campaign investigated one of the riverbeds that used to feed into the lake. The MOXIE experiment completed its 16th, and final, oxygen generation test during this campaign. Ingenuity completed its 54th flight during this campaign. The helicopter experienced an anomaly that caused it to land outside the range of the rover, but this was ultimately resolved when the rover moved into a position that allowed contact to be restored. The campaign ended with Perseverance reaching the margin carbonate geologic unit, after having taken three further rock samples.Margin campaign (September 2023 - August 2024)
The Margin Campaign was the fourth of the Mars 2020 mission. The campaign was expected to last around 8 months, although it lasted closer to a year, after which point Perseverance began the Crater Rim Campaign. The campaign gets its name from the geological unit it aims to explore - the margin carbonate unit. Rocks in this unit are capable of containing traces of life, and their formation is tied to the presence of liquid water.During the campaign, Ingenuity achieved several records, including a max altitude of 24 meters and a maximum groundspeed of 10 meters per second. Unfortunately, due to a failure on the 72nd flight, the helicopter blades became too damaged to fly. On January 25th, 2024, NASA declared the end of Ingenuity's mission - the helicopter's final resting place was named Valinor Hills, after a location in the Lord of the Rings franchise. Despite the loss of Ingenuity's blades, the core of the helicopter remained intact; it will continue to monitor atmospheric conditions for as long as it is able. Perseverance took four further rock samples during this campaign. The campaign overlapped with solar conjunction, interfering with the ability to communicate with the rover from Earth.
Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and AeroVironment are completing a detailed assessment of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s final flight on January 18, 2024, the first of its kind on an extraterrestrial planet, concluding that the inability of Ingenuity’s navigation system to provide accurate data during the flight likely caused a chain of events that ended the mission.
The helicopter’s vision navigation system was designed to track visual features on the surface using a downward-looking camera over well-textured but flat terrain. This limited tracking capability was more than sufficient for carrying out Ingenuity’s first five flights, but by Flight 72 the helicopter was in a region of Jezero Crater filled with steep, relatively featureless sand ripples.
One of the navigation system’s main requirements was to provide velocity estimates that would enable the helicopter to land within a small envelope of vertical and horizontal velocities. Data sent down during Flight 72 shows that, around 20 seconds after takeoff, the navigation system couldn’t find enough surface features to track.
Photographs taken after the flight indicate the navigation errors created high horizontal velocities at touchdown. In the most likely scenario, the hard impact on the sand ripple’s slope caused Ingenuity to pitch and roll. The rapid attitude change resulted in loads on the fast-rotating rotor blades beyond their design limits, snapping all four of them off at their weakest point — about a third of the way from the tip. The damaged blades caused excessive vibration in the rotor system, ripping the remainder of one blade from its root and generating an excessive power demand that resulted in loss of communications.
Northern rim campaign (August 2024 - present)
The Northern Rim Campaign is the fifth, currently ongoing science campaign, and the first new science campaign since the loss of the Ingenuity helicopter. It was originally called the Crater Rim Campaign. It has included a total elevation change of over 1000 feet. The main focuses of the campaign are expected to be at the regions "Pico Turquino" and "Witch Hazel Hill". It is expected to encounter rocks as old as 4 billion years.Due to the steepness and slipperiness of terrain encountered during the campaign, Perseverance has not been able to travel as fast as expected. Despite this, it has still traveled faster than the only remaining other active Mars rover, Curiosity. Various strategies were tried to mitigate the issue. Furthermore, the rover's supply of sample tubes has begun to run out, with only 10 of the original 43 sample tubes remaining unused as of August 2025. Two of those tubes have been retired because of worries that the process of using them may cause components of the rover to catch on each other in a dangerous way. Despite these setbacks, Perseverance has performed well; it set a Mars record with a single-day drive of 412 meters, and an engineering review determined that the rover could last until at least 2031 and that its wheels would remain at optimal performance for at least 37 miles.
In December 2024, the rover reached the top of the crater rim. After reaching the top, Perseverance collected its oldest rock sample yet in January and reached Witch Hazel Hill, one of the main focuses of the campaign, which it left in May 2025. As of December 2025, it was on its way to a region called 'Lac de Charmes', a plain just beyond the crater rim. A Mars solar conjunction lasted from December 29th, 2025 to January 16, 2026, during which time contact with the rover was inhibited.
On December 8th and 10th, 2025, Perseverance executed a drive whose waypoints were fully planned by generative AI. While the plan was first validated by the engineering team before being sent to the rover, it marks the first use of generative AI to fully plan a drive. The drive was completed successfully, moving 210 meters on the first day and 246 meters on the second.
Timeline of samples cached
- Before November 2024: NASA determined that the use of two sample tubes would pose a risk to the mission, due to the risk of wires on the robot arm catching on the fasteners.