From fist bumps at JPL to Mars donuts at Krispy Kreme and Red Planet billboards in New York City's Times Square, people went all out for the Perseverance rover's landing.
NASA's newest Mars rover touched down in Jezero Crater on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021 and will explore the Red Planet in search of evidence of past or present life.
Inside Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, members of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission team celebrate the rover's successful landing on the Martian surface on Feb. 18, 2021.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
On Feb. 18, 2021, engineer Mallory Lefland watches the Mars 2020 landing with excitement and anticipation. Lefland sits in the mission support area in Southern California at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Perseverance's chief engineer Adam Steltzner (right) and his team react in mission control after receiving confirmation the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
During the Feb. 18, 2021 landing on Mars, members of the team watch from Mission Control as the first images of the Martian surface return to Earth from Perseverance rover. NASA's JPL built and manages the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Perseverance team members watch from mission control as the first images arrive moments after the rover's successful touchdown.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Another fist celebratory fist bump in the mission control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
On its way to the surface of the Red Planet, the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) Camera, captured the descent stage carrying NASA’s Perseverance rover through the Martian atmosphere. HiRISE is aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Mars 2020 Perseverance team members cheer after receiving confirmation that their precious rover safely touched down on the surface of Mars.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Fist bumps abound in the mission control room at NASA JPL after the Perseverance rover successfully touched down on Mars.
(Image credit: Emma Howells/NASA)
The Empire State Building in New York City was illuminated with red lights to celebrate the landing of NASA's Mars rover Perseverance.
As NASA's Perseverance rover descends to the Martian surface, a live NASA TV broadcast from Mission Support at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows on the One Times Square video board. The rover's key objective includes depicting Mars' geology and past climate and to collect and store Martian rock and regolith samples.
(Image credit: Emma Howells/NASA)
On the One Times Square video board in New York City, a NASA Mars Rover Landing banner announcing the touch down on the Red Planet. The Mars 2020 mission includes searching for signs of ancient microbial life, paving the way for human exploration.
(Image credit: Emma Howells/NASA)
To celebrate the Perseverance rover's big landing day, Krispy Kreme offered a limited-edition doughnut that resembles Mars. Aptly named the "Mars Doughnut," the cosmic creation is filled with chocolate creme and dipped in caramel icing that's been dyed to look like the red planet.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Perseverance flight director Magdy Bareh moves the final marble from the "Earth launch jar" to the "Mars landing jar." The Perseverance team had been moving one marble a day since launch from jar to jar.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
NASA Perseverance rover mission managers and scientists celebrate a successful landing on Mars at the start of a post-landing update on Feb. 18, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, rips up the contingency plan for Perseverance's landing after the mission successfully arrived at the Red Planet.
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Christine Lunsford joined the Space.com team in 2010 as a freelance producer and later became a contributing writer, covering astrophotography images, astronomy photos and amazing space galleries and more. During her more than 10 years with Space.com, oversaw the site's monthly skywatching updates and produced overnight features and stories on the latest space discoveries. She enjoys learning about subjects of all kinds.
