An illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover landing safely on Mars. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land safely on Feb. 18, 2021. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Signs of life on Mars may be found sooner than you think!
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is on schedule to land on Mars on Thursday, February 18th, 2021 at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST! To celebrate, NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities and events across the world as the agency prepares to descend upon the Red Planet.
The Perseverance launched on July 30th, 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and is also carrying a technology experiment – the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter – that will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Fun, Educational & Yummy Experiences!
On the interactive side, the NASA agency has provided a number of ways for the public to watch the landing, the rover’s mission, as well as enjoy some pre-and-post-landing activities. This includes an amazing interactive experience where you can get a cool picture of yourself with either a Mars background or mission control!
LaShanna’s NASA Mars photo booth play!
How cool is it? Take a look at yours truly, stopping in at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in California to ensure those calculations were accurate (‘cuz those guys would be totally lost without me! Ok…maybe not.)!
To celebrate a literal “out-of-this-world” experience, Krispy Kreme announced its one-day-only special to commemorate NASA’s special landing: a Chocolate Kreme-filled doughnut dipped in caramel icing with a Red Planet swirl, sprinkled with chocolate cookie crumbs. I gained 10 pounds just typing that…
This limited-edition doughnut will be available in shops and online for one day only, on February 18, so be sure to get them while they’re hot!
Did You “Land” A FREE Mars Doughnut?
If you were lucky enough to be selected to have your name travel through space with the Perseverance Rover in NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” program, you are certainly in for a sweet treat!
Krispy Kreme fans can bring their NASA-issued Mars 2020 Perseverance boarding pass into shops to redeem one FREE Mars doughnut on 2/18 ONLY! The boarding pass must be from the Mars 2020 Mission and issued through NASA. If applicable, guests can retrieve their proof of boarding pass online here at NASA. Be sure to try these Mars Doughnuts — they launch into oblivion after tomorrow!
Photo of Non-official NASA Mars 2020 Boarding Pass provided by Krispy Kreme.
Ways to Watch Perseverance rover land on Mars!
Various news and social media outlets have your back with live coverage and landing commentary from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Coverage will begin at 1:15 CST / 2:15 p.m. EST here online, or via a number of other platforms, including:
The Empire State Building is illuminated in red to celebrate this Thursday’s scheduled landing on Mars of NASA’s Perseverance rover, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021 in New York City. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Emma Howells)
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