On February 18, 2021, NASA successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars after traveling about 471 million kilometers from Earth. As it entered the Martian atmosphere at nearly 20,000 km/h, a powerful heat shield protected it from extreme heat. A supersonic parachute then deployed to slow it down. What followed was the intense “Seven Minutes of Terror.” Perseverance separated from the parachute, fired its rockets, and was carefully lowered to the surface using the sky crane system. Once the

NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars broke its driving record with a 1,350.7 feet (411.7 meters) ride on June 19, 2025. See a time-lapse of the ride here. Read more 👉 https://space-com.visitlink.me/k5enD7 Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS | edited by Steve Spaleta Music: "With Music on Repeat (Instrumental Version)" by Victor Lundberg / courtesy of epidemicsound | Space.com

In 2025, we kept the space economy booming, advanced science from the Sun to distant stars—and much more. Next year, our NASA Artemis astronauts will fly around the Moon, preparing for lunar landings and paving the way to Mars. Learn more about our milestones and what's to come! | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration