---
title: "Here’s How to Watch NASA Launch a Mars Mission This Week"
description: "NASA is about to embark on its latest Mars mission, sending its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on its long journey to the Red Planet atop an Atlas V rocket."
date: "2020-07-27"
modified: "2020-07-27"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-launch-mars-mission-july-30"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars helicopter"
  - "NASA"
  - "perseverance"
  - "the digest"
---

# Here’s How to Watch NASA Launch a Mars Mission This Week

![NASA is about to embark on its latest Mars mission, sending its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on its long journey to the Red Planet atop an Atlas V rocket.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/watch-nasa-launch-mars-mission-live.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Going Live

NASA is about to embark on its latest Mars mission, sending its Mars 2020 [Perseverance](<https://futurism.com/tags/perseverance>) rover on its long journey to the Red Planet atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The launch is slated for Thursday, July 30 at 7:50 am EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Luckily, the space agency has [set up a live stream](<https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive>) on its website so you can follow along as it happens. Live coverage will start at 7 am.

## Looking for Life

The Perseverance rover, like its predecessors, will look for signs of ancient life on Mars using a new set of high-tech scientific instruments, including a ground-penetrating radar, a full set of weather analyzers, and 23 cameras in total.

The rover will also be carrying a truly unique payload: NASA's [Mars Helicopter Ingenuity](<https://futurism.com/tags/mars-helicopter>), a solar-powered drone that weighs a mere four pounds. It will attempt several flights across the Martian surface and will scout best driving routes for Perseverance.

Arrival at the Red Planet is slated for February 2021.

**READ MORE:** *[NASA to Broadcast Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch, Prelaunch Activities](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-broadcast-mars-2020-perseverance-launch-prelaunch-activities/>)*

**More on the mission:** *[Three Separate Countries Are Launching Mars Missions This Month](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/three-countries-launching-mars-missions-month>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)