For Las Vegas, the touchdown of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars was a source of both national and community pride.

With the safe landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover Thursday afternoon on the surface of Mars, two scientists at UNLV will get to take part in the ultimate in distance learning, as members of the NASA team hoping to answer the question, is there, or has there been life on the red planet.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover spent seven months traveling 292 million miles to Mars.

NASA made history Thursday afternoon as the Perseverance rover landed on Mars, and two professors at UNLV played a part in it.

Two UNLV scientists working on NASA’s new mission to Mars survived “seven minutes of terror” Thursday as they watched the Perseverance rover’s perilous but perfect landing on the red planet.

Two UNLV scientists working on NASA's new mission to Mars survived the "seven minutes of terror" Thursday as they watched the dangerous but perfect landing of the Perseverance rover on the red planet.

It's a big day for exploration on Mars!

If all goes right, Thursday the Perseverance Rover will be safely on Martian ground, where it can begin searching for signs of ancient life, and collecting and storing rock and soil samples.