Where Is Perseverance? NASA Tool Lets You Follow Mars Rover In Real Time

KEY POINTS

NASA has a tool that people can use to track the location of the Mars Perseverance rover
It is one way for people to join the Perseverance rover's journey to Mars
The tool can also be used to explore other parts of the solar system

A free NASA tool gives anyone a chance to follow the Perseverance rover's journey as it makes its way to Mars.

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30 and it was on a months-long journey to the Red Planet. Although we can't see the Perseverance rover, NASA developed the Eyes on the Solar System tool, which will let anyone track the Perseverance rover's location.

Apart from the simple view in which one can see the spacecraft's location, users of the tool can also customize how they want to experience the journey by choosing from several options such as a spacecraft view or even a 3D view. Regardless of the option a user chooses, he or she can get to see the Perseverance rover's location in real time.

"Eyes on the Solar System visualizes the same trajectory data that the navigation team uses to plot Perseverance's course to Mars," Mars 2020 mission design and navigation manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Fernando Abilleira, said in a NASA news release. "If you want to follow along with us on our journey, that's the place to be."

Need a @NASAPersevere update?

Use @NASA_Eyes to follow our rover — and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter traveling with it, as they make their way to the Red Planet. 🔴 Visit https://t.co/vni4yzY9fV to learn how to get your fix. pic.twitter.com/jWpeSvDyez
— NASA (@NASA) August 23, 2020

But the tool is not solely for tracking the Perseverance rover's journey. With the same tool, users can also experience the solar system in a unique way by exploring planets, moons and all NASA spacecraft that have flown from 1950 to those projected till 2050.

For instance, users may recreate the moment when the Curiosity rover landed on the surface of Mars in 2012 or do a flyby of Pluto with the New Horizons spacecraft, while those who want to stay closer to home may also use the tool to watch the Earth alongside a climate-monitoring satellite.

As for the Perseverance rover, anyone can track its location and join the journey for the next six months as it makes its way to Mars. When it lands on Feb. 18, 2021, it will seek out signs of ancient life and collect Martian samples while the Ingenuity Helicopter, which is hitching a ride on the rover, will perform a technology demonstration.