illustration of parachute

Perseverance Deploys its Parachute (Illustration)​: NASA’s Perseverance rover deploys a supersonic parachute from its aeroshell as it slows down before landing, in this artist’s illustration. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Full image and caption ›


NASA leadership and members of the mission will discuss the agency’s latest rover, which touches down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18.


NASA is hosting a media briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 4:30 p.m. EST (1:30 p.m. PST) to discuss the upcoming landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The event will air live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and YouTube.

Perseverance lands Feb. 18, carrying new science instruments and technologies, including the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on its belly. Perseverance 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 will seek signs of ancient life on the Red Planet as a primary goal.

Perseverance was built and is managed for NASA by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Participating in the briefing are:

  • Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
  • Lori Glaze, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
  • Matt Wallace, Mars 2020 deputy project manager, JPL
  • Allen Chen, Mars 2020 entry, descent, and landing lead, JPL
  • Ken Farley, Mars 2020 project scientist, Caltech
  • Briony Horgan, Mars 2020 science team member, Purdue University

The public may ask questions on social media during the briefing using #CountdownToMars.

To learn more about Perseverance, visit:

https://nasa.gov/perseverance

and

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

News Media Contacts

Alana Johnson / Grey Hautaluoma
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-672-4780 / 202-358-0668
alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov / grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

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