NASA Mars launch LIVE stream: Watch NASA's historic Perseverance launch here now

The countdown is on for NASA to launch the multi-billion-dollar Mars rover from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Perseverance is the fifth rover in NASA’s lineup of robotic explorers that will journey to the Red Planet. However, unlike NASA’s past missions, Perseverance has been built with the explicit goal of finding alien life, past or present, on Mars.

The Mars rover is expected to launch today (July 30) during a two-hour window that opens at 12.50pm BST (7.50am EDT, 4.50am PDT).

Perseverance will blast off aboard a United Launch Alliance (UAL) Atlas V rocket.

After a seven-month trip through space, Perseverance will land in Mars’ Jezero crater on February 18, 2021.

NASA’s launch comes hot on the heels of China and the UAE launching their own probes to Mars.

Watch the launch unfold live online in the embedded video player below.

READ MORE: When will NASA’s Perseverance rover land on Mars?

How to watch the NASA launch live online today:

NASA’s launch activities will be broadcast live online, courtesy of NASA TV.

The stream will kick off at 12pm BST (7am EDT, 4am PDT) or about 50 minutes before the launch window opens.

Tune-in to the stream by clicking the play button in the embedded video player above.

NASA’s James Crawley said: “Stay tuned as the mission eclipses multiple milestones – including stage separation, main engine cutoff, and spacecraft separation.”

NASA will then host a post-launch conference at 4.30pm BST (11.30am EDT, 8.30am PDT).

You can also watch the stream on NASA’s website, YouTube channel, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Twitch, Theta TV and Daily motion.

Everything you need to know about NASA’s Perseverance rover:

The 2,300lbs rover is the fifth robot NASA is sending to Mars.

Perseverance will follow in the footsteps of Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity.

Perseverance is comparable in size to a small car and comes equipped with tools that will allow it to collect and store rock and soil samples.

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Attached to the rover’s underbelly is a small helicopter named Ingenuity.

Designed to work in Mar’s paper-thin atmosphere, Ingenuity will attempt the first powered flight on an alien world.

The rover and its companion will land in Jezero crater, which scientists believe held water billions of years ago.

The feature is a prime candidate for the hunt for microbial life.

NASA said: “Jezero crater tells a story of the on-again, off-again nature of the wet past of Mars.

“More than 3.5 billion years ago, river channels spilled over the crater wall and created a lake.

“Scientists see evidence that water carried clay minerals from the surrounding area into the crater lake.

“Conceivably, microbial life could have lived in Jezero during one or more of these wet times.

If so, signs of their remains might be found in lakebed or shoreline sediments.”

source: express.co.uk