Which Mars rover landed in Jezero crater in 2021?

The Mars rover that landed in Jezero crater in 2021 was Perseverance.

NASA’s Perseverance touched down on February 18, 2021, as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Its landing used a parachute, retrorockets, and the innovative “sky crane,” which lowered the rover on cables before flying away. The landing signal took about 11 minutes to travel from Mars to Earth.

Jezero was chosen because it is an ancient lake basin with a preserved river delta. Scientists believe its rocks and sediments could contain chemical or microscopic evidence related to Mars’s past habitability. Perseverance’s mission includes studying geology, searching for biosignatures, and collecting rock samples for a possible future return to Earth.

A common mix-up is Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012 inside Gale crater and also used a sky crane. Opportunity and Spirit were earlier NASA rovers that landed in 2004. Perseverance is also notable for carrying Ingenuity, the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.