NASA’s latest Mars rover, Perseverance, will begin its descent to the planet’s Jezero Crater on Thursday. The mission will seek to answer a long-standing question: Is there evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars? Perseverance is expected to land around 3:55 p.m. EST following a complicated entry into the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft will need to go from traveling at nearly 12,100 miles per hour, to slowing to a stop in about seven minutes — a challenging feat that is not guaranteed to