Nasa set to return to Mars as it prepares to launch car-sized rover

Nasa’s Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Helicopter

Nasa is set to launch a car-sized robotic spacecraft to Mars as part of a mission to look for signs of past life on the planet.

The Perseverance rover will lift off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday at 12.50pm UK time aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.