NASA rover attempting most difficult Martian touchdown yet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s latest road trip to Mars is almost complete. The most elaborate rover ever sent to the red planet will attempt to land Thursday, a week after spacecraft from two other countries entered Martian orbit. Named Perseverance, the rover is aiming for an ancient river delta. The spot is filled with cliffs, pits and fields of rocks, any of which could doom the $3 billion mission. But the once submerged terrain could also hold evidence of past life. Perseverance will drill into the most promising rocks and set the samples aside for return to Earth in a decade.