What was the mission name of NASA's Perseverance rover?

The mission name of NASA’s Perseverance rover was Mars 2020.

Mars 2020 is the broader NASA mission that delivered Perseverance to Mars and included its entry, descent, and landing system. The mission also carried Ingenuity, the small helicopter that later became the first powered aircraft to achieve flight on another planet. Perseverance itself is the rover’s personal name, while Mars 2020 identifies the mission and spacecraft program.

The mission launched from Cape Canaveral on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero crater on February 18, 2021. Jezero was selected because it once held a lake and river delta, environments that could preserve geological evidence of ancient microbial life.

A common mix-up is treating Mars 2020 and Perseverance as interchangeable names. In everyday conversation, people often call the rover “the Mars 2020 rover,” but the precise distinction is that Mars 2020 is the mission and Perseverance is its principal surface vehicle. Mars Express, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Pathfinder were separate Mars missions.