'First-of-Its-Kind' Video Shows NASA Rover's Spectacular Landing on Mars

Breaking news from the red planet!

That it has been done before should not take away from our awe that scientists have sent a spacecraft millions of miles away and executed a mind-bogglingly precise landing on terrain about which little is known. It's an outrageous feat. 

Discussion and animations about the Mars Perseverance rover's"seven minutes of terror" from the top of the Martian atmosphere to its surface get us a little of the way toward understanding that journey. Now, you can get an even better feel for this astounding feat. NASA has shared actual video from the rover's landing, and it's a wild ride.  

The "How to Land on Mars" video was unveiled on Monday, February 22, and we've never seen anything like it. The last rover to touchdown on the red planet was Curiosity. That landing was relayed back as a series of stills that created a stop motion portrait of the landing. Amazing, but it's not the same as seeing the experience this way. 

The video takes you all the way from the start of the descent through touchdown. The spacecraft had four cameras and a microphone on-board to create this video. However, NASA explained in the press conference that one camera failed. Nonetheless, this video is like nothing you've ever seen before.

At the news conference where the "first-of-its-kind footage" was unveiled, NASA also shared new images from the rover, which landed on February 18. Perseverance hasn't even been there a week and already the rover has provided a whole lot of jaw-dropping images and footage. 

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Dustin Nelson is a Senior Staff Writer at Thrillist. Follow Dustin Nelson on Twitter.