Please join the Office of the Chief Scientist for a four-lecture series celebrating the upcoming landing of the Perseverance Rover on February 18, 2021 and the Mars 2020 mission!

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission will study Mars’ past and test technologies needed for future human and robotic exploration. Perseverance’s instruments are designed to characterize the processes that formed and shaped Mars’ geologic record, seek signs of past microbial life, and for the first time collect core rock and soil samples for eventual return to Earth. Hear from members of the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission team and instrument Principal Investigators as they discuss their work.

February 2, 2021: “The Mars 2020 Perseverance Mission: First Step in Mars Sample Return”
Kenneth Farley, Mars 2020 Project Scientist, JPL

February 4, 2021: “SHERLOC: Looking for clues in Jezero Crater”
Luther Beegle, SHERLOC Principal Investigator, JPL

February 9, 2021: “Mineralogy of the Jezero Crater Region”
Adrian Brown, Mars 2020 Deputy Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters

February 11, 2021: “The Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE): We’re Looking Forward to your Visit!”
Michael Hecht, MOXIE Principal Investigator, MIT