NASA reveals spectacular moving images of Mars rover landing
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore
Nasa has released incredible video footage of its Perseverance rover landing on Mars.
Many were eager to see more of Perseverance on Friday after the American space agency shared one still image of the robot landing.
Nasa mission experts shared the anticipated footage during a live-streamed briefing on Monday.
Watch footage of Perseverance landing on the red planet
The six-wheeled rover, nicknamed Percy, landed on an ancient river delta and lake known as Jezero Crater on Thursday.
The fresh footage shows dust and grit being lifted as the vehicle descends.The size of a small car, Perseverance is the the most sophisticated rover ever to explore Mars.
Its landing marks the start of what will be the most sustained search for ancient life ever conducted on Mars. The rover will drill down into the planet using its seven-foot arms and collect rock samples containing possible signs of bygone microscopic life.
Three to four dozen chalk-size samples will be sealed in tubes and set aside to be retrieved eventually by another rover and brought homeward by another rocket ship.
The goal is to get them back to Earth by as early as 2031.