The same facility that provided valuable testing for NASA missions to low-Earth orbit and the Moon is now helping the agency prepare to launch the first rocket from Mars.

The agency established the board in May 2023 to evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.

Sturdy legs are needed to absorb the impact of the heaviest spacecraft to ever touch down on the Red Planet.

The first rocket launch from the surface of another planet will be accomplished using two solid rocket motors.

The board, initiated by NASA, will provide added confidence that the program won’t exceed guidelines following an important upcoming milestone.

The rover continues its hunt for rocks worthy of bringing to Earth for further study.

After completing the first sample depot on another world, the rover continues its hunt for Mars rocks worthy of study on Earth.

The Red Planet rover snapped a portrait of the sample depot it has assembled with 10 backup sample tubes that could be returned to Earth by a future mission.

Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future.