Mars 2020 Liftoff

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, center, watches Mars 2020 launch on the observation deck of the Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 30, 2020. With him are students Vaneeza Rupani, at left, and Alex Mather. Rupani named the Ingenuity helicopter, and Mather names the Mars Perseverance rover. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifted off at 7:50 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sending the rover and helicopter on their trek to Mars. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.