NASA to Host Virtual Briefing on February Mars Rover Landing

January 15, 2021

NASA will be hosting a media briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the upcoming landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which includes new science instruments and technologies, including the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on its belly. The event will air live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and YouTube.

Perseverance is scheduled to land on Feb. 18. The rover will use a drill on the end of its robotic arm to capture rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) samples in metal tubes, which will be deposited on the surface of Mars for a future mission to collect and return to earth. The rover’s primary goal is to seek signs of ancient life on the red planet. The rover was built and managed for NASA by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Media and the public may ask questions via social media during the briefing using the hashtag #CountdownToMars.

More details about the Perseverance rover is available at this site, or this site.

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