⁍ Next-generation Mars rover Perseverance blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday atop an Atlas 5 rocket.

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⁍ The $2.4 billion mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth’s planetary neighbor.

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⁍ Its arrival at Mars is planned for Feb. 18 at the site of an ancient river delta.

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⁍ Scientists have long debated whether Mars – once a much more hospitable place than it is today – ever harbored life.

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– NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a $2.4 billion mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth’s planetary neighbor, Reuters reports. The next-generation robotic rover—a car-sized six-wheeled vehicle carrying seven scientific instruments—also is scheduled to deploy a mini helicopter on Mars and try out equipment for future human treks to the fourth planet from the sun. Its arrival at Mars is planned for Feb. 18 at the site of an ancient river delta. “It’s really kind of a key of a whole bunch of new research that we’re doing that is focused on the question … is there life out there?” Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s science division chief, said on a live stream after the launch. Perseverance is due to land at the base of an820-foot-deep crater calledJezero, site of a former lake and water system from 3.5 billion years ago that scientists suspect could bear evidence of potential past microbial life. Scientists have long debated whether Mars—once a much more hospitable place than it is today—ever harbored life. Water is considered a key ingredient for life, and Mars billions of years ago had lots of it on the surface before the planet became a harsh and desolate outpost. This was the third launch from Earth to Mars this month, following probes sent by the United Arab Emirates and China. US Vice President Mike Pence tweeted: “Today is a great day for American leadership in space!”