Our Perseverance Mars rover is set to land on the Red Planet on Feb. 18. So what will the robotic scientist do once it lands? Meet our panel of mission experts who will talk about how Perseverance will search for signs of ancient microbial life and collect rock samples with the help of instruments such as SHERLOC. In addition to searching for signs of past life, our rover will also provide critical data on Mars’ geology and climate.
Speakers:
• Lori Glaze, director, NASA’s Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
• Ken Williford, Perseverance deputy project scientist, JPL
• Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist, JPL
• Luther Beegle, principal investigator, Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument, JPL
• Jim Bell, principal investigator, Mastcam-Z instrument, Arizona State University, Tempe
• Sylvestre Maurice, deputy principal investigator, SuperCam instrument, Institut de Recherche Astrophysique et Planétologie, Toulouse, France
Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the landing of Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rovers.
We will delve into the stories of these incredible robots, with a look at how the exploration of Mars and the understanding of ourselves has changed because of the twin rovers.
Speakers:
John Callas, former Mars Exploration Rovers project manager
Abigail Fraeman, former Mars Exploration Rovers deputy project scientist
Host:
Nikki Wyrick, office of communications and education, NASA JPL
