NASA’s rover Perseverance on Thursday neared its encounter with Mars, hewing to a trajectory that will plunge it into the atmosphere of the Red Planet to begin a sequence of maneuvers designed to avoid surface hazards and deposit the rover inside a crater that may hold remnants of ancient life. NASA anticipates the spacecraft will enter the atmosphere about 3:48 p.m. and deploy a parachute four minutes later. Touchdown is expected about 3:55 p.m.

Rough terrain will require spacecraft to use autonomous navigation system to avoid hazards

Has there ever been life on Mars?

Meet the UNLV scientist and professor who's literally doing some groundbreaking work on Mars with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

If the Mars Perseverance Rover was lifting off from Cape Canaveral at almost any other time, University of Nevada, Las Vegas geochemistry and astrobiology professor Elisabeth “Libby” Hausrath would have had a front-row seat.

If the Mars Perseverance Rover was lifting off from Cape Canaveral at almost any other time, University of Nevada, Las Vegas geochemistry and astrobiology professor Elisabeth “Libby” Hausrath would have had a front-row seat.

At some point you've probably pondered the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe?

At some point you've probably pondered the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe?