NASA is targeting 7:50 a.m. EDT (4:50 a.m. PDT) Thursday, July 30, for the launch of its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window is approximately two hours, with a launch opportunity every five minutes.

Questions may be asked via social media with the hashtag #CountdownToMars.

Full mission coverage is as follows:

Monday, July 27

• 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) - Mars 2020 Prelaunch News Conference. Participants include:

  • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

  • Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator, NASA's Science Mission Directorate

  • Omar Baez, launch director, NASA's Launch Services Program

  • Matt Wallace, deputy project manager, JPL

  • Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance

  • Jessica Williams, launch weather officer, 45th Space Force

• 3 p.m. EDT (noon PDT) - Mars 2020 Mission Engineering/Science Briefing. Participants include:

  • Lori Glaze, NASA Planetary Science Division director

  • Jennifer Trosper, deputy project manager, JPL

  • Farah Alibay, mobility engineer, JPL

  • Ken Farley, project scientist, Caltech

  • Tanja Bosak, science team member, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tuesday, July 28

• 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) - Mars 2020 Mars Sample Return Briefing. Participants include:

  • Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator, NASA's Science Mission Directorate

  • David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration, ESA (European Space Agency)

  • Jeff Gramling, NASA Mars Sample Return Program director

  • Julie Townsend, sampling and caching operations lead, JPL

  • Chris Herd, returned sample science participating scientist, University of Alberta

  • Lisa Pratt, NASA planetary protection officer

• 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) - Mars 2020 Mission Tech and Humans to Mars Briefing. Participants include:

  • Jeff Sheehy, chief engineer, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate

  • Jim Watzin, NASA Mars Exploration Program director

  • Michael Hecht, MOXIE principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • MiMi Aung, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter project manager, JPL

  • Amy Ross, lead spacesuit engineer NASA's Johnson Space Center

  • Michelle Rucker, Mars Integration Group lead, NASA's Johnson Space Center

Wednesday, July 29

• Noon EDT (9 a.m. PDT) - Administrator Briefing. Participants include:

  • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

  • NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard

  • Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana

  • NASA astronaut Zena Cardman

• 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) – NASA Social Q&A Live from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

  • Jessica Clarke, Mars 2020 fault protection engineer, JPL

  • Christina Hernandez, Mars 2020 systems engineer, JPL

  • Joby Razzell Hollis, astrobiologist and SHERLOC post-doctoral scholar, JPL

Thursday, July 30

• 7 a.m. EDT (4 a.m. PDT) - NASA TV live launch coverage begins

• 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT) - Postlaunch News Conference

For more about the mission, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020