In the coming days, NASA will launch the Mars 2020 Mission to the Red Planet with the Perseverance rover in tow. The mission builds on the legacy laid and the lessons learned from its roving Martian predecessors. The rover is scheduled to enter the Martian atmosphere in February of next year. Needless to say, preparing a craft to travel millions of miles through the cold vacuum of space and successfully land a rover on another planetary body is no cosmic cakewalk.

We’ve boiled down everything you need to know about the trip to the Red Planet.

Also in this ebook from TechRepublic, we spoke with Keith A. Comeaux, deputy chief engineer on the Mars 2020 Mission, about the challenges involved in landing a craft on the Red Planet. We share how TRISH is helping astronauts prepare for longterm deep space travel such as on a mission to Mars and how six Israeli astronauts are about to experience life on Mars without actually leaving Earth. Want a Raspberry Pi-powered Mars Rover designed by NASA? We’ll tell you how to build one.

And there’s much more!