Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Washington (KROC AM News) - If all goes as planned, a new US rover will land on Mars in three weeks. And the event may attract as much attention as the 1969 moon landing.

That event attracted more than half a billion TV viewers. But there was no internet, no high-def cameras, and space-age technology was still in its infancy.

This event will have no historical comparison to the moon landing but it could prove very popular because of today's "connected" world - and the high tech involved.

The Perseverance Mars Rover left Earth July 30 and is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18th and according to NASA:

"If all goes well, the public will be able to experience in high-definition what it’s like to land on Mars – and hear the sounds of landing for the first time with an off-the-shelf microphone."

Check here for more information.

Here is some more info on the state-of-the-art rover.

NASA held a news conference on the rover and its mission Wednesday:

News update:  Minnesota's community Covid testing sites have become very popular.

Quiz: How many of these spots in Southeast Minnesota can you name?

More From KROC-AM