Perseverance is the rover that forms the Mars 2020 mission. It is scheduled for launch in July 2020 and arrival at Mars in February 2021. Based on the Curiosity rover design, Perseverance will hunt for evidence of past microscopic life in Jezero Crater, which was filled with water in the distant past. Perseverance also will collect 30 samples of Martian rock and dust for possible return to Earth by a future mission. And it carries a small helicopter to test the technology for future missions.