NASA’s latest Mars rover is done with its testing and has embarked on its first scientific mission. After landing on the planet in February, the Perseverance rover has been busy trying out its many instruments—converting atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen that would be needed for manned missions, flying a helicopter and taking photos.

Now, it will begin its mission: looking for evidence of life. Over the coming months, it will use a variety of sophisticated instruments to scan the planet’s Jezero Crater for places of interest, drill into rocks and soil, and collect specimens to be retrieved and brought to Earth by future spacecraft.

High-tech tool kit

The rover is packed with 23 cameras, sensors, a laser and a drill-equipped robotic arm. NASA scientists will spend the next two years using the instruments to learn more about Jezero Crater and home-in on areas they might like to study in greater depth.

The two zoomable cameras that make up the rover’s Mastcam-Z imager survey the terrain. The SuperCam laser is being used to detect rocks’ chemistry. The rover gathers more detailed chemical and mineralogical information using the spectrometers on its arm instruments: the Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry, or PIXL, and the Scanning for Habitable Environments With Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals, or Sherloc.

The rover is equipped with a computer processor running at up to 200 megahertz, slow compared with a modern computer. It also has communications equipment, internal temperature controls and a large battery in the rear to ensure it has plenty of power.