Perseverance is now ready to actively begin looking for evidence of life on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. Since that time it's been in a shakedown phase, testing its various complicated components to make sure everything is functioning A-OK.

During that time it's watched a sunset, flown a helicopter, listened to itself moving around, inhaled the air of Mars to make breathable oxygen, and much more.

The commissioning phase of the mission was completed on June 1. Everything works the way it ought to. And now, this car-sized nuclear-powered l...