News
NASA aces most challenging Mars rover landing to date
After a nearly 300 million mile (480 million kilometer), seven-month-long journey, the world watched as NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission successfully completed the most challenging and precise landing the agency has ever attempted on Thursday (Feb. 18). Perseverance is NASA’s fifth rover and overall ninth mission to successfully land on the Red Planet.
On Thursday afternoon, the alien invader punched through the relatively thin Martian atmosphere streaking across the sky at a blazing 12,100 mph (19,500 kph). Then it shed a few layers, deployed the largest-ever supersonic parachute, and slowed down just enough to use a rocket-propelled crane to drop an autonomous, nuclear-powered, robotic astrobiologist called Perseverance on the surface of Mars.
Flawlessly completing the entry, descent, and landing sequence of its mission to land in Mars’ hostile Jezero Crater, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission officially marked the completion of its interplanetary travel phase and began its mission to collect evidence of ancient, microbial Martian life.
Getting to Mars
On July 30, 2020, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Aboard that rocket was NASA’s most ambitious Mars mission to date. The launch phase of the mission suffered a few minor delays ultimately shifting the launch date from July 18, 2020 to July 30, 2020. However, ULA’s Atlas V first stage rocket and Centaur upper stage delivered NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission into such an accurate trajectory that the 2,260 lb (1,025 kg) rover landed on its specified February 18 landing date despite the delays in the launch timeline.
In total, three missions to Mars – China’s Tianwen-1, the United Arab Emirates Hope Probe, and NASA’s Perseverance – left Earth in the summer of 2020. All three missions targeted to leave Earth prior to August to best take advantage of the minimal distance between the planets during what is called opposition. The opposition between Earth and Mars only occurs once every 22 months. If the Perseverance mission had missed its launch date it would’ve had to wait until 2022 for a chance to travel to the Red Planet.
Entry, Descent, and Landing – a controlled disassembly
As Perseverance descended into the Martian atmosphere the Cruise Phase – hardware that propelled the spacecraft through space for seven months – was jettisoned. The Perseverance rover safely tucked inside the aeroshell and protected by a robust heat shield soared through the thin Martian atmosphere enduring an extreme amount of friction that produced heat energy that reached up to 2,370 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,300 degrees Celsius).
Once through the period of peak heating the heat shield was jettisoned exposing Perseverance to the Martian environment for the first time. Then about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the surface the largest supersonic parachute NASA has ever sent to another planet – 70.5 feet (21.5 meters) in diameter – was deployed drastically slowing the spacecraft.
While still descending, the controlled descent module – called the sky crane – separated from the backshell about 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers) above the surface to free-fly in the Martian atmosphere. The descent module used a new landing technology called Terrain-Relative Navigation used a constant stream of visual input and guidance collected from the Vision Compute Element and Rover Compute Element to determine the safest reachable landing site.
The throttleable rockets on the powered descent module steered the rover to its landing spot in Mars’ Jezero Crater and slowed to approximately 1.7 mph (2.7 kph) about 66 feet (20 meters) above the Martian surface. Perseverance was then lowered using a system of Nylon cords which were autonomously severed upon touchdown. The final stage of the controlled disassembly was for the sky crane to throttle its rockets back up and fly away for a crash landing a safe distance from the rover.
Ultimately, the Perseverance rover landed about a kilometer south of the intended delta of the Jezero Crater.
Perseverance made it to Mars, now what?
Getting to Mars was only the first of many milestones that Perseverance is expected to achieve during its projected one Mars year-long mission – about 687 Earth days. Now that the rover has touched down the science will begin.
First and foremost once Perseverance stretched its legs, so to speak, the first event took place just minutes after landing. Perseverance captured photos of the Martian surface with a pair of engineering cameras called Hazard Cameras mounted to the front and back of the rover.
The upgraded Navigation and Hazard cameras feature the capability to capture imagery of the Martian surface in 20 megapixel high-definition resolution for the first time. In the coming days, more images will be relayed back to Earth taken with the rover’s Navigation cameras and Mastcam-Z.
Once on Mars, the control of the Perseverance rover was transitioned from NASA JPL’s EDL team to the Perseverance Surface team. The Surface Phase of the Mars 2020 mission – or the phase of the mission that consists of the four main science objectives – began about twenty minutes after the touchdown.
Perseverance was sent to Mars to determine whether life ever existed on Mars, characterize the climate, characterize the geology, and prepare for the eventual human exploration of Mars. To achieve these massive science goals, the robotic astrobiologist was sent with an impressive suite of scientific research tools. Over the next 30 Martian days – called sols – the rover will begin to unfurl and begin testing the various pieces of hardware in preparation for exploring the delta of Jezero Crater.
Deploying the stowaway
Perseverance not only took a roving science lab to Mars, but it also took the first rotorcraft helicopter to be deployed to another planet dubbed Ingenuity. Ingenuity is a small double-bladed rotorcraft weighing only about 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms).
After the initial 30 Ssls of stretching its legs, Perseverance will travel a short distance to find a flat area of the Martian surface to deploy the Ingenuity helicopter. Once deployed, the Ingenuity team will have a technology demonstration window of approximately 30 sols to complete the first flight test of Ingenuity – the first time powered, controlled flight will be attempted on another planet.
Landing is just the beginning
As exciting as landing on Mars was, it is only the beginning for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The nuclear-powered astrobiology robot will spend the next Martian year excavating the surface of a very rich delta in the Jezero crater searching for the first evidence of ancient, microbial life.
Even more exciting is that Perseverance is only the first phase of a larger mission called the Mars Sample Return mission that will someday bring the excavated samples that Perseverance collects back to Earth in a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency.
Although the Perseverance mission is only intended to last one Martian year, Perseverance has the capacity to extend its mission to nearly 15 years thanks to its power source, a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) which produces a steady stream of electricity provided by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. Perseverance could potentially outlast all of NASA’s other Mars missions.
Stay ahead of the curve and be the first to learn about new industry trends each week!
Follow along as our team gives you their take on the biggest stories of the week.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased the insane capabilities of the next major Full Self-Driving update just hours after the company rolled out version 14.2 to owners.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 had some major improvements from the previous iteration of v14.1.x. We were on v14.1.7, the most advanced configuration of the v14.1 family, before Tesla transitioned us and others to v14.2.
However, Musk has said that the improvements coming in the next major update, which will be v14.3, will be where “the last big piece of the puzzle finally lands.”
14.3 is where the last big piece of the puzzle finally lands
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2025
There were some major improvements with v14.2, most notably, Tesla seemed to narrow in on the triggers that caused issues with hesitation and brake stabbing in v14.1.x.
One of the most discussed issues with the past rollout was that of brake stabbing, where the vehicle would contemplate proceeding with a route as traffic was coming from other directions.
We experienced it most frequently at intersections, especially four-way stop signs.
Elon Musk hints at when Tesla can fix this FSD complaint with v14
In our review of it yesterday, it was evident that this issue had been resolved, at least to the extent that we had no issues with it in a 62-minute drive, which you can watch here.
Some owners also reported a more relaxed driver monitoring system, which is something Tesla said it was working on as it hopes to allow drivers to text during operation in the coming months. We did not test this, as laws in Pennsylvania prohibit the use of phones at any time due to the new Paul Miller’s Law, which took effect earlier this year.
However, the improvements indicate that Tesla is certainly headed toward a much more sentient FSD experience, so much so that Musk’s language seems to be more indicative of a more relaxed experience in terms of overall supervision from the driver, especially with v14.3.
Musk did not release or discuss a definitive timeline for the release of v14.3, especially as v14.2 just rolled out to Early Access Program (EAP) members yesterday. However, v14.1 rolled out to Tesla owners just a few weeks ago in late 2025. There is the potential that v14.3 could be part of the coming Holiday Update, or potentially in a release of its own before the New Year.
Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving version 14.2 yesterday to members of the Early Access Program (EAP). Expectations were high, and Tesla surely delivered.
With the rollout of Tesla FSD v14.2, there were major benchmarks for improvement from the v14.1 suite, which spanned across seven improvements. Our final experience with v14.1 was with v14.1.7, and to be honest, things were good, but it felt like there were a handful of regressions from previous iterations.
While there were improvements in brake stabbing and hesitation, we did experience a few small interventions related to navigation and just overall performance. It was nothing major; there were no critical takeovers that required any major publicity, as they were more or less subjective things that I was not particularly comfortable with. Other drivers might have been more relaxed.
With v14.2 hitting our cars yesterday, there were a handful of things we truly noticed in terms of improvement, most notably the lack of brake stabbing and hesitation, a major complaint with v14.1.x.
However, in a 62-minute drive that was fully recorded, there were a lot of positives, and only one true complaint, which was something we haven’t had issues with in the past.
The Good
Lack of Brake Stabbing and Hesitation
Perhaps the most notable and publicized issue with v14.1.x was the presence of brake stabbing and hesitation. Arriving at intersections was particularly nerve-racking on the previous version simply because of this. At four-way stops, the car would not be assertive enough to take its turn, especially when other vehicles at the same intersection would inch forward or start to move.
This was a major problem.
However, there were no instances of this yesterday on our lengthy drive. It was much more assertive when arriving at these types of scenarios, but was also more patient when FSD knew it was not the car’s turn to proceed.
Can report on v14.2 today there were ZERO instances of break stabbing or hesitation at intersections today
It was a significant improvement from v14.1.x
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 21, 2025
This improvement was the most noticeable throughout the drive, along with fixes in overall smoothness.
Speed Profiles Seem to Be More Reasonable
There were a handful of FSD v14 users who felt as if the loss of a Max Speed setting was a negative. However, these complaints will, in our opinion, begin to subside, especially as things have seemed to be refined quite nicely with v14.2.
Freeway driving is where this is especially noticeable. If it’s traveling too slow, just switch to a faster profile. If it’s too fast, switch to a slower profile. However, the speeds seem to be much more defined with each Speed Profile, which is something that I really find to be a huge advantage. Previously, you could tell the difference in speeds, but not in driving styles. At times, Standard felt a lot like Hurry. Now, you can clearly tell the difference between the two.
It seems as if Tesla made a goal that drivers should be able to tell which Speed Profile is active if it was not shown on the screen. With v14.1.x, this was not necessarily something that could be done. With v14.2, if someone tested me on which Speed Profile was being used, I’m fairly certain I could pick each one.
Better Overall Operation
I felt, at times, especially with v14.1.7, there were some jerky movements. Nothing that was super alarming, but there were times when things just felt a little more finicky than others.
v14.2 feels much smoother overall, with really great decision-making, lane changes that feel second nature, and a great speed of travel. It was a very comfortable ride.
The Bad
Parking
It feels as if there was a slight regression in parking quality, as both times v14.2 pulled into parking spots, I would have felt compelled to adjust manually if I were staying at my destinations. For the sake of testing, at my first destination, I arrived, allowed the car to park, and then left. At the tail-end of testing, I walked inside the store that FSD v14.2 drove me to, so I had to adjust the parking manually.
This was pretty disappointing. Apart from parking at Superchargers, which is always flawless, parking performance is something that needs some attention. The release notes for v14.2. state that parking spot selection and parking quality will improve with future versions.
Any issues with parking on your end? 14.1.7 didn’t have this trouble with parking pic.twitter.com/JPLRO2obUj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 21, 2025
However, this was truly my only complaint about v14.2.
You can check out our full 62-minute ride-along below:
Elon Musk
SpaceX issues statement on Starship V3 Booster 18 anomaly
The incident unfolded during gas-system pressure testing at the company’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX has issued an initial statement about Starship Booster 18’s anomaly early Friday. The incident unfolded during gas-system pressure testing at the company’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX’s initial comment
As per SpaceX in a post on its official account on social media platform X, Booster 18 was undergoing gas system pressure tests when the anomaly happened. Despite the nature of the incident, the company emphasized that no propellant was loaded, no engines were installed, and personnel were kept at a safe distance from the booster, resulting in zero injuries.
“Booster 18 suffered an anomaly during gas system pressure testing that we were conducting in advance of structural proof testing. No propellant was on the vehicle, and engines were not yet installed. The teams need time to investigate before we are confident of the cause. No one was injured as we maintain a safe distance for personnel during this type of testing. The site remains clear and we are working plans to safely reenter the site,” SpaceX wrote in its post on X.
Incident and aftermath
Livestream footage from LabPadre showed Booster 18’s lower half crumpling around the liquid oxygen tank area at approximately 4:04 a.m. CT. Subsequent images posted by on-site observers revealed extensive deformation across the booster’s lower structure. Needless to say, spaceflight observers have noted that Booster 18 would likely be a complete loss due to its anomaly.
Booster 18 had rolled out only a day earlier and was one of the first vehicles in the Starship V3 program. The V3 series incorporates structural reinforcements and reliability upgrades intended to prepare Starship for rapid-reuse testing and eventual tower-catch operations. Elon Musk has been optimistic about Starship V3, previously noting on X that the spacecraft might be able to complete initial missions to Mars.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk teases insane capabilities of next major FSD update
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
