TORONTO -- NASA is on the brink of launching their first Mars rover in nine years — the Perseverance rover will be blasting off on Thursday morning to embark on its journey to the red planet, where it will search for ancient life.

In preparation for the launch, NASA has started a dramatic countdown across its social media accounts.

Here’s the what, when, where and how of watching the launch from Earth.

WHAT IS PERSEVERANCE?

Perseverance is the fifth NASA rover to be sent to Mars, and will join its sibling, the Curiosity rover, in February 2021, when it completes its long space journey.

Curiosity has been on Mars since 2012, and has been the sole occupant of the planet since the Opportunity rover stopped responding in 2018 following a massive dust storm.

Perseverance will build on some of the groundbreaking discoveries Curiosity and other rovers have made in their time on the red planet.

Speaking Wednesday from outside the Kennedy Space Centre, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that due to Curiosity’s work, we know that Mars once had water and was capable of supporting life.

He added that they don’t know if “it was inhabited, but it was habitable.”

That’s where Perseverance comes in.

“This is the first time in history where we’re going to go to Mars with an explicit mission to find life on another world — ancient life on Mars,” he said.

Perseverance’s mission is one of astrobiology, searching for signs of life. The rover will study the geology of the planet and take rock and soil samples to be analyzed on Earth later.

The rover will be on Mars for at least one Mars year, according to the NASA website, which amounts to about 687 Earth days, or almost two Earth years.

Bridenstine encouraged folks to watch from home as the spacecraft is launched.

“This is going to be an inspirational moment,” he said.

WHERE AND WHEN

The rover is lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida around 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30, assuming the weather holds.

According to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center blog, the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron is predicting an 80 per cent chance of favourable weather for the liftoff.

Perseverance will be blasting off on an Atlas V-541 rocket, the same type of rocket that took Curiosity up into space in 2011.

HOW TO WATCH

The launch may be in Florida, but anyone around the world can tune in.

You can watch the launch online through NASA’s website, which will be livestreaming the liftoff, as well as through NASA’s youtube account. NASA TV will be carrying it, which can be watched online, or through cable TV.

Live coverage will begin at 7 a.m. EDT, with the launch occurring just under an hour later. Post-launch coverage will continue until 11:30 a.m. EDT.

A full list of the day’s events and livestreams to watch the launch can be found at NASA’s website.

On social media, you can follow the hashtag #CountdownToMars to take part in more launch festivities and ask questions. NASA has been posting commentary, extra pictures and details surrounding the launch on their Twitter account in the lead up to the launch itself.

Perseverance may be taking off on July 30, but the rover won’t reach Mars until Feb. 18, 2021, where it will be landing at the Jezero Crater.

The journey won’t be the hard part: arriving will.

Getting from the top of Mars’ atmosphere to the surface takes seven minutes — a journey that was referred to as the “seven minutes of terror” during Curiosity’s descent. These seven minutes contain the make or break moments that will determine whether Perseverance truly can live up to its name and make it through to land safely on the planet’s surface.

China is also aiming to land a rover on Mars, called Tianwen-1, which launched just a week ago. It's been an action-packed month for Mars missions -- the United Arab Emirates  launched a probe earlier this month that will orbit the planet.