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La Vie en Rover: The June 2023 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting in Paris, France
Perseverance Science Team Meeting in France: The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover Science Team on the steps of the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle during the June 2023 team meeting in Paris. Credits: JC Domenech/MNHN Paris. Download image ›

Bonjour de Paris! During the last week of June, ~170 members of the Mars 2020 Science Team convened across the Atlantic for a 4-day meeting in Paris hosted by our French colleagues from the Supercam team. The Science Team usually works remotely to operate the rover and discuss new science results, but with the severity of the COVID pandemic waning, we’ve begun hosting one in-person meeting a year. This yearly meeting gives team members the opportunity to get to know each other better, and to discuss and synthesize the latest rover results together. Since about 40% of Perseverance’s Science Team is international, a team meeting abroad helps to share the effort and expense of international travel.

The first day of the team meeting was held in the historic Amphithéâtre Verniquet on the beautiful grounds of the Jardin des Plantes at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Amidst this historic setting dating back to the time of the French Revolution, the team engaged in a lively discussion about the rocks explored within the western fan front, including the geologic context, origin, and astrobiological potential of the fan’s sedimentary sequence.

Day two of the meeting saw the team move to the campus of the Sorbonne in the heart of Paris’ Latin Quarter, where we discussed results from the rover’s current campaign exploring the upper fan sequence. One of the main highlights of the day was our team’s evening social event held at the breathtaking Grande Galerie de l’Evolution amidst the natural history museum’s extensive collection of preserved animal specimens. On the third day of the meeting, we heard updates from several of our instrument teams and presentations from the team’s atmospheric scientists. We also heard a report out from the Mars 2020 team’s internal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility working group who summarized feedback from a series of discussion and listening sessions held within the team over the past two years.

The last day of the meeting focused on forward-looking topics, including a status report from the Mars Sample Return campaign and a discussion of Perseverance’s plans for the “extended prime mission” inside and outside Jezero crater in the years leading up to the rover’s rendezvous with the next leg of Mars Sample Return. Discussions like this are a great reminder of the incredible rocks ahead of us, and an excellent motivator to keep up the mission’s pace of sampling and exploration.

The agenda for our 4-day meeting was jam-packed, but opportunities for in-person interaction on a rover mission are few and far between, so we do our best to make the most of our time together. Our time in Paris was both productive and inspiring, amidst a beautiful and historic backdrop that none of us will soon forget!



About This Blog

These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars 2020 mission team members who love to share what Perseverance is doing with the public.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these blogs are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

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Contributors+

  • Mariah Baker
    Planetary Scientist, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
    Washington, DC
  • Matthew Brand
    SuperCam/ChemCam Engineer, Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory
  • Sawyer Brooks
    Docking Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Adrian Brown
    Deputy Program Scientist, NASA HQ
    Washington, DC
  • Denise Buckner
    Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Fred Calef III
    Mapping Specialist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Stephanie Connell
    SuperCam, PhD Student, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN
  • Alyssa Deardorff
    Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Kenneth Farley
    Project Scientist, Caltech
    Pasadena, CA
  • Phylindia Gant
    Mars 2020 Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Brad Garczynski
    Student Collaborator, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN
  • Erin Gibbons
    Student Collaborator, McGill University
    Montreal, Canada
  • Michael Hecht
    Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Principal Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Westford, MA
  • Louise Jandura
    Chief Engineer for Sampling & Caching, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Elisha Jhoti
    Ph.D. Student, University of California, Los Angeles
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Bavani Kathir
    Student Collaborator on Mastcam-Z, Western Washington University
  • Lydia Kivrak
    Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Athanasios Klidaras
    Ph.D. Student, Purdue University
  • Rachel Kronyak
    Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Steven Lee
    Perseverance Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • An Li
    Student Collaborator on PIXL, University of Washington
  • Justin Maki
    Imaging Scientist and Mastcam-Z Deputy Principal Investigator, NASA/JPL
  • Forrest Meyen
    MOXIE Science Team Member, Lunar Outpost
  • Sarah Milkovich
    Assistant Science Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Eleanor Moreland
    Ph.D. Student, Rice University
    Houston, Texas
  • Asier Munguira
    Ph.D. Student, University of the Basque Country
  • Matt Muszynski
    Vehicle Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Claire Newman
    Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research
    Altadena, CA
  • Avi Okon
    Sampling Operations Deputy Lead, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Pegah Pashai
    Vehicle Systems Engineer Lead, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • David Pedersen
    Co-Investigator, PIXL Instrument, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
    Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Eleni Ravanis
    Student Collaborator, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
    Honolulu, HI
  • Thirupathi Srinivasan
    Robotic Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Kathryn Stack
    Deputy Project Scientist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Vivian Sun
    Science Operations Systems Engineer, Staff Scientist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Iona (Brockie) Tirona
    Sampling Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Jennifer Trosper
    Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Vandi Verma
    Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Rick Welch
    Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Roger Wiens
    Principal Investigator, SuperCam / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN

Tools on the Perseverance Rover+

The Perseverance rover has tools to study the history of its landing site, seek signs of ancient life, collect rock and soil samples, and help prepare for human exploration of Mars. The rover carries:


CAMERAS & SPECTROMETERS
GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS
TECHNOLOGY DEMO
SAMPLE COLLECTION

Where is the Rover?

Image of a rover pin-point at Perseverance's location on Mars, Jezero Crater

View Map ›