Happy landiversary: NASA's Perseverance rover marks three Earth years on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has completed three Earth years on Mars, marking a significant milestone in humanity's quest to understand the Red Planet.

Perseverance made its historic landing on the Martian surface on February 18, 2021, and is currently making its way to explore an area nicknamed "Beehive Geyser".

Over these three years, Perseverance has travelled more than 15 miles (24.8 km) on the Martian surface and captured over 116K pictures of our beautiful celestial neighbour. The rover has collected an impressive array of 23 samples from the Martian surface. These samples, carefully selected and extracted from various locations, hold the key to unlocking Mars' geological and potentially biological secrets.

Today marks 3 Earth years since I landed on Mars.In that time, I’ve collected 23 samples, surpassed 1,000 sols, driven more than 15 miles (24.8 km), and captured thousands of photos of this beautiful planet.There’s so much more to do – and I’m excited to keep exploring! pic.twitter.com/5KmwrvsUek

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2024

The samples of Martian rocks and soil collected by the rover will be returned to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign - a joint endeavour of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Once the samples arrive safely on Earth, scientists will conduct a detailed chemical and physical analysis in laboratories to look for signs of past life on Mars.