It's landing day on Mars! Perseverance, NASA's most sophisticated rover to date, is expected to land on the surface of Mars on Thursday, February 18, around 2:55 p.m. Central Time. The goal of the mission is to search for clues of ancient life, but also to evaluate the conditions of present-day Mars with an eye toward potential human exploration.

The rover's entry, descent and landing on Mars will broadcast live on NASA's website and YouTube channel, as well as NASA's public TV channel, app, Twitter, and Facebook channels with coverage starting at 1:15 p.m. CST. Special Spanish language programming -- a first from NASA for a planetary landing -- will begin at 1:30 p.m. CST.