NASA's new Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars! Scott Sutherland Thursday, February 18th 2021, 4:00 pm - Now past its 'seven minutes of terror' landing, this rover will soon begin exploring Mars. All eyes are on Mars today, to witness the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover, which will search for signs that the Red Planet was once home to organic life. On Thursday, February 18, 2021, at roughly 3:55 p.m. EST, the Perseverance rover safely arrived at its destination, touching down on the surface of Mars, in Jezero crater, after a nearly seven-month flight through space. The seven minutes prior to that, the final phase of its journey involved a daring dive through the Martian atmosphere to reach the surface.