Perseverance

Perseverance is searching Jezero Crater for signs of ancient microbial life and collecting core samples of Martian rock and regolith for possible return to Earth. More than 3.5 billion years ago, river channels spilled over the crater wall and created a lake; the site was chosen from more than 60 candidates. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the rover and operates it. It launched on July 30, 2020, and landed on February 18, 2021, carrying the Ingenuity helicopter, which made 72 flights before its mission ended in January 2024.

The rover carries 43 sample tubes. By July 2025 it had used 33, for 27 rock cores, two regolith samples, one atmospheric sample and three witness tubes; 10 tubes were left at a depot on the crater floor in January 2023. In September 2025 NASA announced that the “Sapphire Canyon” core, taken from a rock called Cheyava Falls, contains a potential biosignature.

The Mars Sample Return program meant to bring the tubes to Earth was not funded in 2026, and its program office was closed; the samples remain on Mars.

Read more about Perseverance

• Mars: two rovers, a helicopter and samples with no ride homeCuriosity has climbed a kilometer up Mount Sharp; Perseverance has used 33 of its 43 sample tubes, one holding a potential biosignature. The $8–11 billion mission to bring them home was shut down in January 2026.