Live From Mars: Landing of NASA Perseverance Mission Streamed Live on Piccadilly Lights

In a media first for UK out of home, the dramatic landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars was live streamed for 60 minutes on the iconic Piccadilly Lights as it happened on Thursday evening (February 18th).

The nail-biting seven minute entry, descent and landing and the first still images from the surface of Mars as the rover started its mission were all projected live on Landsec’s Piccadilly Circus screen in London. 

The broadcast was a collaboration between NASA, Landsec and digital out of home media operator Ocean Outdoor. 

Working with the NASA team, Ocean Labs used new technology to live stream coverage of the descent within the patchwork of commercial advertisers on the Piccadilly screen for 40 minutes using a feed taken directly from the NASA satellite. The Lights then switched to full screen domination from for the final 20 minutes of the simulcast.

The NASA broadcast was unable to show footage of the landing itself because a camera on outside of the spacecraft would not survive the entry into Martian atmosphere. Rather, the live stream featured the landing team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California receiving signals from the spacecraft at each stage of entry, descent and landing allowing them to know and communicate if the spacecraft had successfully achieved each of these milestones. 

The final landing signal elicited a jubilant response from the landing team.

The Lights then switched to the first still images from Mars as the Perseverance rover began to explore the Jezero Crater, an ancient lake that existed 3.6 billion years ago. The rover is looking for signs of ancient life and will collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth.

The milestone broadcast was produced by Ocean Labs with supporting artwork created in-house by Ocean’s design studio.

Catherine Morgan, director of Ocean Labs, said: “Large format digital out of home is a world class platform for sharing moments of international importance and achievement. A live broadcast on this scale has never been achieved on the Piccadilly Lights until now. Our collaboration with NASA and Landsec showcases to superb effect how brands can use the new live streaming feature in the patchwork as well as the full screen.”

Landsec commercial media director Derek Manns said: “This international mission is of worldwide interest and yet another milestone in space exploration. We were happy to join NASA to share this historic moment on the Piccadilly Lights and hopefully find an answer to the fundamental question - is there life on Mars?”