Upon closer inspection, the parachute design was not symmetrical. Yet neither was the pattern random.

The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built blasted off for the red planet Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life.

Perseverance, a six-wheeled robotic explorer, will blast off this summer to collect Martian samples for eventual return to Earth.