Perseverance, NASA’s latest rover to head to Mars, landed successfully on the Red Planet about 3:55 Eastern on Thursday, ushering in a new era of Mars exploration for the space agency.  Perseverance, which launched in July 2020, carries a lot more scientific equipment and instruments than its sibling Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012.  Included in that equipment is a way of collecting samples to be sent back to Earth, as well as a Mars first: A helicopter!

The aerial acrobatics performed by the rover during landing included a super-sonic dive through the atmosphere, the deployment of the largest supersonic parachute to ever be deployed on another planet, the use of radar to determine an appropriate landing spot, a rocket-powered-descent to just over the surface (after disconnecting from the parachute), and a perilous sky crane final twenty-meter drop from the rocket platform to the surface of the planet.  After Percy (a nickname given the rover) touches down, the rocket-powered sky crane will fly away to crash somewhere else on the planet’s surface.

The NASA-JPL control room supervising the descent and landing watched the tense final moments of Percy’s arrival on Mars, burst into cheers upon the announcement of the touchdown.  I was lucky enough to be at JPL the night of the Curiosity landing and I can tell you, it is one of the most exciting scenes I have ever been able to witness.

Here is an animation of the final descent of Perseverance:

Here goes! Lighting the engines on my “jetpack” for final descent. Wheels down in less than a minute.#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/AQKPEBGr0o

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021

Percy also sent back some pictures on Mars:

And another look behind me. Welcome to Jezero Crater. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/dbU3dhm6VZ

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021

Here’s the moment from inside the control room on touchdown:

"TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED!"

Cheers erupt in NASA control room as Perseverance rover successfully touches down on Mars—an endeavor that is part of one of the agency's most ambitious deep-space missions to search for signs of ancient life on the red planet. https://t.co/MHDxFzmxNh pic.twitter.com/Mhz6oFTxd7

— ABC News (@ABC) February 18, 2021

Understandably, a lot of Twitter users were excited about the landing, offering their congratulations to the team at NASA:

WOW !!!! First transmitted photo from PERSEVERANCE now safely landed on Mars. CONGRATULATIONS to Jim Bell and the entire Perseverance team. NASA/JPL-Caltech rocks !!! Bri https://t.co/ClMBFb4yiV

— Dr. Brian May (@DrBrianMay) February 18, 2021

Congratulations to the Perseverance team on a successful landing! #Mars2020 #NASAPerseverance @NASA @NASAJPL

— Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) February 18, 2021

Look forward to continuing to support missions like #Perseverance & seeing what the talented teams at @NASAJPL & #NASA accomplish in the future. This is an incredible feat during a particularly difficult time, & their dedication & service to this mission has not gone unnoticed. https://t.co/miJUNxmJBn

— Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) February 18, 2021

Congratulations to the incredible team at @NASA for the successful landing of the @NASAPersevere rover on Mars! Perseverance will help us continue to unlock the mysteries of space and one day land Americans on the Red Planet! Another Great day for American leadership in Space! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/ez0phmfF9r

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) February 18, 2021

Congrats to NASA and the entire Perseverance Team!  Job well done!   Now the real science begins!