4,3,2,1 earth below us! Congratulations NASA on the historic launch of the rover Perseverance! The blast-off happened at 4:50am PT this morning and now is off on a 6-month journey to Mars!

The Perseverance is a six-wheeled self-driving rover the size of an SUV. It’s carrying a helicopter with it that will be the first extraterrestrial aircraft, think the first MarsWest Airlines.

The Perseverance has the goal of answering 4 main questions:

1. Was there ever life on Mars?

2. What’s the climate?

3. How was Mars created

4. How can humans be outfitted for safe exploration?

The rover was named by Alexander Mather, a 13-year old student in Virginia. He entered a NASA naming competition, and won with this essay. Read it carefully, it’s a perfect message for today!

"But if rovers are to be the qualities of us as a race, we missed the most important thing: Perseverance.

"We as humans evolved as creatures who could learn to adapt to any situation, no matter how harsh. We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere. We, not as a nation, but as humans will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future."

Click below to share with your kids what questions the Perseverance mission hopes to answer about Mars, including what would humans wear on the red planet??

Photo Credit: Getty Ima