WandaVision Episode 7, 'Breaking the Fourth Wall', includes the series' first mid-credits scene – so make sure you hang around once the names start popping up. Unlike most Marvel Cinematic Universe fare, WandaVision's first 6 episodes haven't included extra scenes tucked in between the credit sequences (although some have guessed that the credit sequences themselves might hold clues). This week was a little different. If you want to know what was in it, scroll down. Full spoilers follow for Episode 7 of WandaVision! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/wandavision-episode-7-official-clip"] Breaking Through the Fourth Wall, which riffed off of mockumentary sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office, ends by confirming the long-held theory that Kathryn Hahn's Agnes is in fact Agatha Harkness, a witch originating from the Marvel comics. In a closing theme song, we're shown how Agatha has seemingly been responsible for much of the strangeness surrounding Wanda and her family, including seemingly creating or summoning Evan Peters' Pietro Maximoff. The mid-credits scene seems to confirm Pietro's connection to Agnes, as the newly powered-up Monica Rambeau explores Agnes/Agatha's house, discovers a mysterious, vine covered basement entrance – and is surprised by Pietro (who's been absent for the episode) before she can enter. Exactly what all this means isn't entirely clear yet – but what is clear is that we should probably be sitting through WandaVision's credit sequences every week from now on. With WandaVision fast coming to an end, you might be wondering what's to come – well there's the 'good old-fashioned fun' of The Falcon and Winter Soldier beginning on March 19, and there's also a making-of documentary on WandaVision, Assembled coming on March 12. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

WandaVision Episode 7, 'Breaking the Fourth Wall', includes the series' first mid-credits scene – so make sure you hang around once the names start popping up. Unlike most Marvel Cinematic Universe fare, WandaVision's first 6 episodes haven't included extra scenes tucked in between the credit sequences (although some have guessed that the credit sequences themselves might hold clues). This week was a little different. If you want to know what was in it, scroll down. Full spoilers follow for Episode 7 of WandaVision! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/wandavision-episode-7-official-clip"] Breaking Through the Fourth Wall, which riffed off of mockumentary sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office, ends by confirming the long-held theory that Kathryn Hahn's Agnes is in fact Agatha Harkness, a witch originating from the Marvel comics. In a closing theme song, we're shown how Agatha has seemingly been responsible for much of the strangeness surrounding Wanda and her family, including seemingly creating or summoning Evan Peters' Pietro Maximoff. The mid-credits scene seems to confirm Pietro's connection to Agnes, as the newly powered-up Monica Rambeau explores Agnes/Agatha's house, discovers a mysterious, vine covered basement entrance – and is surprised by Pietro (who's been absent for the episode) before she can enter. Exactly what all this means isn't entirely clear yet – but what is clear is that we should probably be sitting through WandaVision's credit sequences every week from now on. With WandaVision fast coming to an end, you might be wondering what's to come – well there's the 'good old-fashioned fun' of The Falcon and Winter Soldier beginning on March 19, and there's also a making-of documentary on WandaVision, Assembled coming on March 12. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Keith Gill, the Redditor known as DeepF*ckingValue on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets, and one of the biggest success stories from the GameStop short squeeze, testified before congress today. Speaking before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Gill presented himself as a hobbyist investor, not a hedge fund or professional investment firm that provides “investment advice for fees or commissions.” Any posts Gill made about GameStop stock on the internet or social media in the past were entirely personal, he says. Gill, who reportedly made $7.8 million off of GameStop stock, is one of the biggest profiles to come out of the unforeseen financial drama that’s now the subject of multiple movies, TV, and documentary features. Gill has also been hit by a class-action lawsuit over accusations of market manipulation. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gamestop-in-the-news-timeline&captions=true"] To recap, individual investors online either on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets or YouTube, noticed a short happening to GameStop stock, the struggling brick-and-mortar video game retailer. Upon realizing this, individuals like Gill went and purchased GameStop stock while it was incredibly cheap, and when short-sellers moved in to cover their short, prices for the stock skyrocketed hundreds of percentiles. This took GameStop stock, which once traded as low as $4 as high as $347 in late January. Now, GameStop stock has seemingly regulated to a more modest $40 per share price. The short squeeze created a flurry of media attention both on wall street short-sellers and day trading stock apps like Robinhood, whose CEO Vlad Tenev was also present in front of Congress to testify. Gill’s testimony was largely focused on his personal situation and how he came to see GameStop as a good investment. “I believed the company was dramatically undervalued by the market,” says Gill. “The prevailing analysis about GameStop’s impending doom was simply wrong.” In Gill’s testimony, he says that his stock purchases were based “entirely on publicly available information,” and a misconception that GameStop was a failing business. “I grew up playing video games and shopping at GameStop, and I’m looking forward to buying a new console at GameStop,” says Gill. He also cites the addition of pet supplies empire, Chewy, co-founder Ryan Cohen to GameStop’s board as a reason for his optimism in the company. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/28/what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-stock-ign-now"] Gill admits that the investment was risky but ultimately proved successful in the long-run beyond his own predictions. “Ultimately my GameStop investment was a success. But the thing is, I felt that way in December far before the peak, when the stock was at $20 a share.” Ultimately, Gill leaves any potential legislation to prevent or regulate what happened with GameStop to lawmakers. “It’s alarming how little we know about the inner-workings of the market, and I am thankful that this Committee is examining what happened,” says Gill. “I believe an analysis of GameStop’s recent price action must start with a discussion of the exorbitant short interest in the stock, as well as an investigation into any potentially manipulative shorting practices and brokers’ reported failures to timely deliver shares and settle trades.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN. Photo credit: Financial Services Committee via YouTube. Captured by IGN. Correction: An earlier version of this story listed GameStop's stock as high as $120. This was an example of its height, but prices went as high as $400. The story has been updated to reflect this.

Keith Gill, the Redditor known as DeepF*ckingValue on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets, and one of the biggest success stories from the GameStop short squeeze, testified before congress today. Speaking before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Gill presented himself as a hobbyist investor, not a hedge fund or professional investment firm that provides “investment advice for fees or commissions.” Any posts Gill made about GameStop stock on the internet or social media in the past were entirely personal, he says. Gill, who reportedly made $7.8 million off of GameStop stock, is one of the biggest profiles to come out of the unforeseen financial drama that’s now the subject of multiple movies, TV, and documentary features. Gill has also been hit by a class-action lawsuit over accusations of market manipulation. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gamestop-in-the-news-timeline&captions=true"] To recap, individual investors online either on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets or YouTube, noticed a short happening to GameStop stock, the struggling brick-and-mortar video game retailer. Upon realizing this, individuals like Gill went and purchased GameStop stock while it was incredibly cheap, and when short-sellers moved in to cover their short, prices for the stock skyrocketed hundreds of percentiles. This took GameStop stock, which once traded as low as $4 as high as $120. Now, GameStop stock has seemingly regulated to a more modest $40 per share price. The short squeeze created a flurry of media attention both on wall street short-sellers and day trading stock apps like Robinhood, whose CEO Vlad Tenev was also present in front of Congress to testify. Gill’s testimony was largely focused on his personal situation and how he came to see GameStop as a good investment. “I believed the company was dramatically undervalued by the market,” says Gill. “The prevailing analysis about GameStop’s impending doom was simply wrong.” In Gill’s testimony, he says that his stock purchases were based “entirely on publicly available information,” and a misconception that GameStop was a failing business. “I grew up playing video games and shopping at GameStop, and I’m looking forward to buying a new console at GameStop,” says Gill. He also cites the addition of pet supplies empire, Chewy, co-founder Ryan Cohen to GameStop’s board as a reason for his optimism in the company. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/28/what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-stock-ign-now"] Gill admits that the investment was risky but ultimately proved successful in the long-run beyond his own predictions. “Ultimately my GameStop investment was a success. But the thing is, I felt that way in December far before the peak, when the stock was at $20 a share.” Ultimately, Gill leaves any potential legislation to prevent or regulate what happened with GameStop to lawmakers. “It’s alarming how little we know about the inner-workings of the market, and I am thankful that this Committee is examining what happened,” says Gill. “I believe an analysis of GameStop’s recent price action must start with a discussion of the exorbitant short interest in the stock, as well as an investigation into any potentially manipulative shorting practices and brokers’ reported failures to timely deliver shares and settle trades.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN. Photo credit: Financial Services Committee via YouTube. Captured by IGN.

Marvel has regained the live-action rights to Jessica Jones and The Punisher from Netflix. This means all the Marvel characters Netflix previously held the live-action rights to, including Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, have reverted to Marvel. As reported by ComicBook.com, the multi-year deal between Marvel and Netflix has officially come to a close now that the last remaining Marvel heroes Netflix held the rights to are back with Marvel. The latter of which has recently spun up its own TV originals on Disney+ with shows like WandaVision and Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Jessica Jones, which starred Krysten Ritter as the titular hero, was a noir detective story centered around Jones' hard-knock character solving street-level mysteries in New York City. The Punisher, starring Jon Bernthal, was a spinoff of Daredevil featuring the gun-toting vigilante. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-netflix-marvel-series-review&captions=true"] In 2013, Marvel and Netflix announced a deal that would create a mini Marvel universe on Netflix based on The Defenders. This included original shows starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Later a Punisher spinoff was also created and released on Netflix as well as a team-up series for The Defenders. This deal effectively ended in 2019 when Netflix announced it will be canceling the remainder of its Marvel shows, possibly in light of the news that Marvel was pursuing its own original television programming on the then newly-announced Disney+ streaming service. Netflix kept the rights to the Marvel characters for a two-year period after the cancellation of a show, which meant characters like Daredevil reverted to Marvel in late 2020 and Jessica Jones and Punisher are now finally changing hands back to Marvel. What Marvel will do with these characters now that it has the live-action rights to these characters remains to be seen. For example, reports have suggested Daredevil star Charlie Cox has been spotted on the set for the upcoming Spider-Man 3 starring Tom Holland. Spider-Man 3 is shaping up to be a bonanza of multiverse shenanigans with The Amazing Spider-Man’s Electro (played by Jamie Foxx) set to return, and rumors of a possible return from other non-MCU Spider-Man actors like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Alfred Molina, who played Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/is-spider-man-3-also-adding-daredevil"] And if you’re watching WandaVision you’ll know that show is also taking some bold risks with characters. So who’s to say what the future has in store for Jessica Jones and Punisher. For more, check out IGN’s WandaVision Episode Release Schedule, and every WandaVision Easter Egg we’ve spotted so far. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

Marvel has regained the live-action rights to Jessica Jones and The Punisher from Netflix. This means all the Marvel characters Netflix previously held the live-action rights to, including Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, have reverted to Marvel. As reported by ComicBook.com, the multi-year deal between Marvel and Netflix has officially come to a close now that the last remaining Marvel heroes Netflix held the rights to are back with Marvel. The latter of which has recently spun up its own TV originals on Disney+ with shows like WandaVision and Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Jessica Jones, which starred Krysten Ritter as the titular hero, was a noir detective story centered around Jones' hard-knock character solving street-level mysteries in New York City. The Punisher, starring Jon Bernthal, was a spinoff of Daredevil featuring the gun-toting vigilante. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-netflix-marvel-series-review&captions=true"] In 2013, Marvel and Netflix announced a deal that would create a mini Marvel universe on Netflix based on The Defenders. This included original shows starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Later a Punisher spinoff was also created and released on Netflix as well as a team-up series for The Defenders. This deal effectively ended in 2019 when Netflix announced it will be canceling the remainder of its Marvel shows, possibly in light of the news that Marvel was pursuing its own original television programming on the then newly-announced Disney+ streaming service. Netflix kept the rights to the Marvel characters for a two-year period after the cancellation of a show, which meant characters like Daredevil reverted to Marvel in late 2020 and Jessica Jones and Punisher are now finally changing hands back to Marvel. What Marvel will do with these characters now that it has the live-action rights to these characters remains to be seen. For example, reports have suggested Daredevil star Charlie Cox has been spotted on the set for the upcoming Spider-Man 3 starring Tom Holland. Spider-Man 3 is shaping up to be a bonanza of multiverse shenanigans with The Amazing Spider-Man’s Electro (played by Jamie Foxx) set to return, and rumors of a possible return from other non-MCU Spider-Man actors like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Alfred Molina, who played Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/is-spider-man-3-also-adding-daredevil"] And if you’re watching WandaVision you’ll know that show is also taking some bold risks with characters. So who’s to say what the future has in store for Jessica Jones and Punisher. For more, check out IGN’s WandaVision Episode Release Schedule, and every WandaVision Easter Egg we’ve spotted so far. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

The Game Developers Conference will be fully digital for the second year in a row, manager Katie Stern announced Thursday.

GDC 2021 will provide a familiar lineup of educational and business-focused presentations from developers, the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival awards ceremonies, plus some new attractions. Rather than the event taking place during a single week, conference organizers are planning content that will run through the year.

The GDC Masterclass (March 4 - 5), introduced last fall, is a series of one or two-day workshops that provide hands-on training on challenges in the games industry, as opposed to the more hands-off presentations.

The GDC Showcase (March 15 - 19) will be free-to-attend digital event, featuring lectures, Ask-Me-Anything sessions with developers, interactive panels, podcasts, and more.

In addition to all the new material, the actual GDC 2021, including the familiar series of event-exclusive lectures on game development and business, will take place from July 19 - 23.

Additional GDC-branded events are also planned for later in 2021, with Stern promising more info in the future. Conference organizers are also still planning to publish their annual State of the Game Industry survey, which provides data on industry employment, technology and business trends, as well as diversity and accessibility measures.

 [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/22/the-5-biggest-takeaways-from-xboxs-bethesda-acquisition"]

The Game Developers Conference (along with PAX East) was one of the first games industry events during 2020 to suffer the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns. With major companies like Sony, Microsoft, Epic Games, and others pulling out due to safety concerns, the 2020 event was eventually postponed and converted into an all-digital event. The event remains one of the largest gatherings of industry workers, drawing in more than 29,000 people in 2019.

Conference organizers also published a report after last year’s event cancellation, detailing how industry workers felt the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted their work. The report found that one in three developers had their game delayed due to the pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/guy who cries at every GDC for IGN.

The Game Developers Conference will be fully digital for the second year in a row, manager Katie Stern announced Thursday.

GDC 2021 will provide a familiar lineup of educational and business-focused presentations from developers, the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival awards ceremonies, plus some new attractions. Rather than the event taking place during a single week, conference organizers are planning content that will run through the year.

The GDC Masterclass (March 4 - 5), introduced last fall, is a series of one or two-day workshops that provide hands-on training on challenges in the games industry, as opposed to the more hands-off presentations.

The GDC Showcase (March 15 - 19) will be free-to-attend digital event, featuring lectures, Ask-Me-Anything sessions with developers, interactive panels, podcasts, and more.

In addition to all the new material, the actual GDC 2021, including the familiar series of event-exclusive lectures on game development and business, will take place from July 19 - 23.

Additional GDC-branded events are also planned for later in 2021, with Stern promising more info in the future. Conference organizers are also still planning to publish their annual State of the Game Industry survey, which provides data on industry employment, technology and business trends, as well as diversity and accessibility measures.

 [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/22/the-5-biggest-takeaways-from-xboxs-bethesda-acquisition"]

The Game Developers Conference (along with PAX East) was one of the first games industry events during 2020 to suffer the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns. With major companies like Sony, Microsoft, Epic Games, and others pulling out due to safety concerns, the 2020 event was eventually postponed and converted into an all-digital event. The event remains one of the largest gatherings of industry workers, drawing in more than 29,000 people in 2019.

Conference organizers also published a report after last year’s event cancellation, detailing how industry workers felt the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted their work. The report found that one in three developers had their game delayed due to the pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/guy who cries at every GDC for IGN.

NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars. After more than six months of speeding toward the Red Planet at 12,000 miles per hour, the rover has touched down safely on Mars. The rover landed at approximately 3:56 p.m. EST/12:56 p.m. PST today on Mars' Jezero Crater. Perseverance joins four other rovers on Mars: Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. [caption id="attachment_2475406" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and for over a year — since the end of Spirit and Opportunity's mission in 2019 — it has been the only rover on the planet with an active mission. It will continue its mission of determining if Mars ever had the right environmental conditions to support small life forms known as microbes. It will now be joined by Perseverance whose mission is to "address high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars," according to NASA. Perseverance will not only seek signs of habitable conditions for life on Mars, but it will search for signs of "past microbial life" as well. It is equipped with a special drill that can collect core samples of "the most promising rocks and soils" and set them aside in a cache on Mars for a potential return to Earth in a future mission. The rover's mission also gives NASA scientists opportunities to gather information about future human expeditions to Mars. "These [opportunities] include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources such as subsurface water, improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars," NASA's Perseverance mission page reads. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cosmos-possible-worlds-gallery&captions=true"] Associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Thomas Zurbuchen, said the Perseverance mission shared the scope of the Perseverance's mission on Mars. "Perseverance is NASA's most ambitious Mars rover mission yet, focused scientifically on finding out whether there was ever any life on Mars in the past," Zurbuchen said. "To answer this question, the landing team will have its hands full getting us to the Jezero Crater — the most challenging Martian terrain ever targeted for a landing." [caption id="attachment_2475428" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] The landing team was fortunately successful and Perseverance is now live and getting to work on the Red Planet. Here's an approximate timeline of how Perseverance's landing went, according to NASA.  

• Cruise Stage Separation: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was attached to Perseverance and responsible for flying the rover through space, detached itself at approximately 3:38 p.m. EST.
• Atmospheric Entry: Perseverance hit the top of Mars' atmosphere at approximately 3:48 p.m. EST at 12,100 miles per hour/19,500 kilometers per hour.
• Peak Heating: The bottom of Perseverance hit its peak temperature of 2,370 degrees Fahrenheit/1,300 degrees Celsius, at approximately 3:49 p.m. EST as a result of the friction it endured flying through the atmosphere.
• Parachute Deployment: Perseverance deployed its parachute at 3:53 p.m. EST.
• Heat. Shield Separation: The protective heat shield on the bottom of Perseverance detached roughly 20 seconds after its parachute was deployed. This detachment was done to allow the rover to begin using its radar to determine how far away it is from the surface of Mars.
• Back Shell Separation: The back shell of the entry capsule that is attached to Perseverance's parachute separated from the rover at approximately 3:54 p.m. EST. At this point, the rover began to use rockets to slow down its speed and fly to the landing site.
• Touchdown: Perseverance successfully landed on Mars at approximately 3:56 p.m. at a speed of about 1.7 miles per hour/2.7 kilometers per hour.

  Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It's expected to stay on the planet for at least one Mars Year, which is the equivalent of 687 Earth days. The first thing the rover did was send a picture back to NASA on Earth. Additional photos from a higher-quality camera will be sent at a later time. Here's the first picture it sent: [caption id="attachment_2475440" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] If you were one of the 10.9 million people who submitted your name to Nasa back in March of last year, your name is aboard Perseverance and roving around Mars right now. For more Mars, read about how researchers are trying to turn the Red Planet green and then check out this story about new ideas researchers have about how Mars might have formed. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. His name is aboard Perseverance and he is so happy today because space is the best. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars. After more than six months of speeding toward the Red Planet at 12,000 miles per hour, the rover has touched down safely on Mars. The rover landed at approximately 3:56 p.m. EST/12:56 p.m. PST today on Mars' Jezero Crater. Perseverance joins four other rovers on Mars: Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. [caption id="attachment_2475406" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and for over a year — since the end of Spirit and Opportunity's mission in 2019 — it has been the only rover on the planet with an active mission. It will continue its mission of determining if Mars ever had the right environmental conditions to support small life forms known as microbes. It will now be joined by Perseverance whose mission is to "address high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars," according to NASA. Perseverance will not only seek signs of habitable conditions for life on Mars, but it will search for signs of "past microbial life" as well. It is equipped with a special drill that can collect core samples of "the most promising rocks and soils" and set them aside in a cache on Mars for a potential return to Earth in a future mission. The rover's mission also gives NASA scientists opportunities to gather information about future human expeditions to Mars. "These [opportunities] include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources such as subsurface water, improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars," NASA's Perseverance mission page reads. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cosmos-possible-worlds-gallery&captions=true"] Associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Thomas Zurbuchen, said the Perseverance mission shared the scope of the Perseverance's mission on Mars. "Perseverance is NASA's most ambitious Mars rover mission yet, focused scientifically on finding out whether there was ever any life on Mars in the past," Zurbuchen said. "To answer this question, the landing team will have its hands full getting us to the Jezero Crater — the most challenging Martian terrain ever targeted for a landing." [caption id="attachment_2475428" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] The landing team was fortunately successful and Perseverance is now live and getting to work on the Red Planet. Here's an approximate timeline of how Perseverance's landing went, according to NASA.  

• Cruise Stage Separation: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was attached to Perseverance and responsible for flying the rover through space, detached itself at approximately 3:38 p.m. EST.
• Atmospheric Entry: Perseverance hit the top of Mars' atmosphere at approximately 3:48 p.m. EST at 12,100 miles per hour/19,500 kilometers per hour.
• Peak Heating: The bottom of Perseverance hit its peak temperature of 2,370 degrees Fahrenheit/1,300 degrees Celsius, at approximately 3:49 p.m. EST as a result of the friction it endured flying through the atmosphere.
• Parachute Deployment: Perseverance deployed its parachute at 3:53 p.m. EST.
• Heat. Shield Separation: The protective heat shield on the bottom of Perseverance detached roughly 20 seconds after its parachute was deployed. This detachment was done to allow the rover to begin using its radar to determine how far away it is from the surface of Mars.
• Back Shell Separation: The back shell of the entry capsule that is attached to Perseverance's parachute separated from the rover at approximately 3:54 p.m. EST. At this point, the rover began to use rockets to slow down its speed and fly to the landing site.
• Touchdown: Perseverance successfully landed on Mars at approximately 3:56 p.m. at a speed of about 1.7 miles per hour/2.7 kilometers per hour.

  Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020, and landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It's expected to stay on the planet for at least one Mars Year, which is the equivalent of 687 Earth days. The first thing the rover did was send a picture back to NASA on Earth. Additional photos from a higher-quality camera will be sent at a later time. Here's the first picture it sent: [caption id="attachment_2475440" align="alignnone" width="720"] Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] If you were one of the 10.9 million people who submitted your name to Nasa back in March of last year, your name is aboard Perseverance and roving around Mars right now. For more Mars, read about how researchers are trying to turn the Red Planet green and then check out this story about new ideas researchers have about how Mars might have formed. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. His name is aboard Perseverance and he is so happy today because space is the best. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.