'7 Minutes of Terror': NASA illustrates Mars rover landing in dramatic trailer

This illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

TORONTO — When NASA's rover Perseverance lands on Mars in February, a complicated set of manoeuvres will have to be executed in just minutes, all while the spacecraft hurtles toward the planet at 20,000 km/h.

The event was illustrated in a dramatic new trailer released by the U.S. space agency.

Dubbed the 'Seven Minutes of Terror,' NASA likens landing a rover in conditions like this to 'slamming the brakes.' Only 40 per cent of missions to Mars by any space agency have been successful.

"Hundreds of things have to go just right during this nail-biting drop," reads a statement on the mission. And because it takes 11 minutes for the rover to send information back to Earth – at which point the rover's descent will have already been completed – Perseverance must act autonomously.

Ten minutes prior to landing, the rover sheds everything it doesn't need. Thrusters activate in order to orient the spacecraft and make sure the all-important heat shields are facing forward.

Mars' atmosphere will naturally begin to slow the craft, while also heating it up to temperatures around 1,300 C. The interior of Perseverance, however, will feel room temperature.

Once the craft has slowed down to 1,600 km/h, a parachute 21.5 metres in diameter deploys to further decelerate the rover.

After the parachute opens, the heat shield is dropped, allowing the instruments inside the rover to zero in on the planet below. The craft uses a camera on board to navigate its way to the surface.

The parachute can only slow Perseverance down to 320 km/h, after which point it will be cut away. As the rover approaches the surface, rocket engines push against the rover to slow it down to 2.7 km/h.

About 12 seconds before touchdown, the rover drops cables toward the planet's surface and locks its wheels and legs into place. As soon as the wheels touch the ground, the cables are cut.

Perseverance is headed to Jezero crater to search for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.