Perseverance is the NASA rover looking for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater on Mars.
nasa-perseverance-rover Perseverance is about the size of a car and was built by NASA with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. It caches samples of rock and regolith, the loose surface material, in sealed tubes for a possible return to Earth.
Each wheel is machined from a block of aluminium and fitted with curved titanium spokes, and the sample tubes are made chiefly of titanium. A heat shield of PICA tiles, which wear away as they heat, protected the rover on entry. A plutonium-fuelled generator supplies its power.
Perseverance explores Jezero Crater on Mars to look for signs of ancient life and to cache rock and regolith samples in sealed tubes for a possible return to Earth. It carries a suite of cameras, spectrometers and a drill on a robotic arm. The materials story is aluminium and titanium for mobility, ablative PICA for entry and a plutonium-fuelled thermoelectric generator for power.
The six wheels each have their own motor and measure 52.5 cm across. The wheel body is machined out of a block of flight-grade aluminium, with curved titanium spokes for springy support. The legs are titanium tubing, formed by the process used for high-end mountain bike frames.
The 43 sample tubes are made chiefly of titanium. Each weighs less than 57 grams and has a white coating on the outside. The rover's drill uses interchangeable bits, including coring bits, regolith bits and an abrader.
The heat shield is a sandwich of aluminium honeycomb with graphite fibre facesheets. It is covered in PICA tiles, which are carbon fibre impregnated with phenolic resin, and a silicone coating is sprayed over the surface.
The MMRTG is a plutonium-fuelled thermoelectric generator. It turns the heat of 4.8 kg of plutonium dioxide into electricity using 768 thermocouples of lead telluride and TAGS, and iridium cladding protects the fuel. It gave about 110 W at launch, and two lithium-ion batteries meet peak demands.
The six wheel bodies, each machined from a block of flight-grade aluminium. The alloy is not named.
The wheel spokes, the leg tubing and the 43 sample tubes, which are made chiefly of titanium.
The ablator tiles on the heat shield, made of carbon fibre impregnated with phenolic resin.
The ceramic fuel of the power generator, 4.8 kg in total.
The 768 thermocouples in the generator, which turn its heat into electricity.
The metal cladding around the plutonium fuel.
NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory built Perseverance. Its wheel skins are almost a millimetre thicker than those on the Curiosity rover. The thermal protection on its entry vehicle uses the same materials and thicknesses as the Mars Science Laboratory mission, with no major changes.
NASA / JPL
Titanium. Here: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more. There: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels.
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness.
carbon-fibre material. Here: GPHS aeroshell box. There: GPHS aeroshell box.
graphite. Here: GPHS graphite sleeves. There: GPHS graphite sleeves.
iridium metal. Here: GPHS fuel cladding. There: GPHS fuel cladding.
lead telluride / TAGS. Here: MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768). There: MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768).
PICA. Here: Heat shield ablator tiles. There: Heat shield tiles.
plutonium dioxide. Here: MMRTG heat source fuel. There: MMRTG heat source fuel.
SLA-561V. Here: Backshell ablator. There: Backshell ablator.
ESA
Titanium. Here: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more. There: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more.
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes).
Carbon fibre. Here: Heat shield facesheets. There: Outer panels (3).
lithium-ion. Here: Rechargeable batteries (2). There: Battery.
ESA / Airbus
Titanium. Here: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more. There: OBA unit attachment fittings; Instrument support bipods (3).
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: Main structure tube; Equipment box (EQB) and more.
Carbon fibre. Here: Heat shield facesheets. There: OBA sandwich panels.
lithium-ion. Here: Rechargeable batteries (2). There: Batteries and solar cells.
SpaceX
Titanium. Here: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more. There: Grid fins, titanium version.
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: Tank domes (aluminium).
Carbon fibre. Here: Heat shield facesheets. There: Interstage face sheets; Landing legs.
lithium-ion. Here: Rechargeable batteries (2). There: Lithium-ion batteries (redundant, on each stage).
ESA
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: TPMU/DSLP housing.
Carbon fibre. Here: Heat shield facesheets. There: Platform structure supplier (eoPortal).
lithium-ion. Here: Rechargeable batteries (2). There: Battery.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Titanium. Here: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more. There: Propellant tanks (2); Instrument mounting flexures.
Aluminium. Here: Wheel body (6). There: Primary structure (heating/cooling panel, edge members, fittings, brackets); Optical-bench heater aluminum tape and more.
lithium-ion. Here: Rechargeable batteries (2). There: Battery cells.
NASA does not state what the rover's body, mast, robotic arm, electronics and instrument housings are made of. The aluminium alloy of the wheels, the grade of the titanium and the white coating on the sample tubes are not named either.
What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1,025 kg (2,260 lb) |
| Wheels | 6 wheels, each with its own motor, 52.5 cm diameter |
| Wheel diameter | 52.5 cm (20.7 in) |
| Power | About 110 W at launch from an MMRTG, plus two Li-ion batteries |
| Sample tubes | 43 tubes |
| Landing | Jezero Crater, 18 February 2021 |
| Entry heat shield | 4.5 m diameter, 70-degree spherecone aeroshell (MSL heritage design) |
Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.
Used in 3 partsWheel spokes · Legs / suspension tubing · Sample tubes (43)
Used in 2 partsHeat shield structure · Backshell structure
Used in 1 partParachute closeout cone, lid and backshell interface plate TPS
Used in 1 partWheel body (6)
Used in 1 partGPHS aeroshell box
Used in 1 partGPHS graphite sleeves
Used in 1 partHeat shield facesheets
Used in 1 partTile bond line
Used in 1 partGPHS fuel cladding
Used in 1 partMMRTG thermoelectric couples (768)
Used in 1 partRechargeable batteries (2)
Used in 1 partHeat shield surface coating
Used in 1 partParachute
Used in 1 partHeat shield ablator tiles
Used in 1 partMMRTG heat source fuel
Used in 1 partTile gap filler
Used in 1 partBackshell ablator
Wheels, legs, sample tubes, entry-vehicle thermal protection and the MMRTG have stated materials. The rover body, mast and instruments do not.
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheel body (6)“machined out of a block of flight-grade aluminum and equipped with titanium spokes” | aluminium (flight-grade, alloy not named)aluminium | — | Wheel 52.5 cm diameter |
| Wheel spokes“curved titanium spokes for springy support” | titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Legs / suspension tubing“Titanium tubing formed with the same process in high-end mountain bike frames.” | titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample tubes (43)“Made chiefly of titanium, each sample tube weighs less than 2 ounces (57 grams).” | titanium (chiefly)titanium | white exterior coating (material not named) | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat shield structure“The heatshield structure was made of an aluminum honeycomb sandwich with graphite fiber facesheets.” | aluminium honeycomb with graphite-fibre facesheetsaluminium-honeycomb-core | — | — |
| Heat shield facesheets“aluminum honeycomb sandwich with graphite fiber facesheets” | graphite fibre (carbon fibre)carbon-fibre | — | — |
| Heat shield ablator tiles“PICA is made of a carbon fiber preform impregnated with phenolic resin” | PICA (phenolic impregnated carbon ablator)pica | — | — |
| Tile bond line“PICA tiles were bonded to the structure using HT-424 paste adhesive.” | HT-424 paste adhesiveht-424-adhesive | — | — |
| Tile gap filler“The gaps between tiles were filled with Room Temperature Vulcanized (RTV-560) silicone adhesive.” | RTV-560 siliconertv-560-silicone | — | — |
| Heat shield surface coating“sprayed with a silicone coating (NuSil CV-1144-0)” | NuSil CV-1144-0 silicone coatingnusil-cv-1144-0-coating | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backshell structure“The backshell structure was made of an aluminum honeycomb sandwich with varying number of graphite facesheet plies.” | aluminium honeycomb with graphite facesheetsaluminium-honeycomb-core | — | — |
| Backshell ablator“SLA-561V is made of RTV silicone resin with granulated cork, silica and phenolic microballoons” | SLA-561Vsla-561v | — | — |
| Parachute closeout cone, lid and backshell interface plate TPS“Acusil-II on the BIP, PCC cone, and PCC lid” | Acusil-IIacusil-ii | — | — |
| Backshell paint“The material was then sprayed with a white paint” | white paint (type not named) | — | — |
| Parachute“194 pounds (88 kilograms) of nylon, Technora and Kevlar fibers” | nylon, Technora and Kevlar fibresnylon-technora-kevlar-parachute-fibres | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMRTG heat source fuel“contains a total of 10.6 pounds (4.8 kilograms) of plutonium dioxide fuel” | plutonium dioxide (Pu-238)plutonium-dioxide-fuel | — | — |
| MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768)“Lead telluride (PbTe)//Germanium telluride/Silver Antimony telluride (TAGS)” | lead telluride / TAGS (tellurium-antimony-germanium-silver)pbte-tags-thermoelectric | — | — |
| GPHS fuel cladding“iridium metal cladding, graphite sleeves that protect the fuel clads” | iridium metaliridium | — | — |
| GPHS graphite sleeves“graphite sleeves that protect the fuel clads” | graphitegraphite | — | — |
| GPHS aeroshell box“the rugged carbon-fiber material that forms the aeroshell” | carbon-fibre material (carbon-bonded carbon fibre per figure labels)carbon-bonded-carbon-fibre | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rechargeable batteries (2)“Two lithium-ion rechargeable batteries to meet peak demands of rover activities” | lithium-ionlithium-ion-cell | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| SuperCam (mast head)“SuperCam identifies minerals and rock compositions.” | Not said | — | — |
| SHERLOC / WATSON, PIXL, drill (turret)“SHERLOC and WATSON, PIXL, GDRT (Gaseous Dust Removal Tool), Ground Contact Sensor, Drill.” | Not said | — | — |
Chassis, mast, robotic arm, instrument housings, electronics and the MOXIE experiment have no stated materials in the sources read. Parachute row quote also covers other fibres as stated by JPL; it gives no split by part.
Collected from public pages and documents, checked 4 Nov 2026.
