# Perseverance’s parachute code

> Internet sleuths solved the Mars parachute’s message in a reported 6 hours.

- Owner: NASA JPL
- Kind: Moment
- Sector: Education
- Seed date: 2021-02-22
- Milestone date: 2021-02-23
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 20 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Mystery & lore, Platform jump

## Summary

The parachute offered a layered puzzle: three inner rings spelled the motto and the outer ring encoded coordinates. A public Python solve made the method reusable, while explanatory diagrams helped people inspect how the colored panels became letters.

## Timeline

- 2021-02-18 — NASA (Open web) — Perseverance landed on Mars with the coded parachute.
- 2021-02-22 — NASA (YouTube) — NASA released landing footage that showed the parachute pattern.
- 2021-02-22 — Online solvers (X) — Solvers posted the phrase Dare mighty things on Twitter.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/perseverance-parachute-code

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Perseverance’s parachute code.” Case HIS-01053. Spread Score v1.2: 20/100. Updated 2026-10-16. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01053