NASA leadership and a panel of scientists and engineers will preview NASA's next mission to the Red Planet, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, at a media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 17. The live briefing will stream on Facebook, Ustream, YouTube, Twitter, NASA Television and the agency's website.

Perseverance is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). The rover's astrobiology mission will search for signs of past microbial life on Mars, characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect rock and soil samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Briefing participants will be:

• NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
• Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California
• Matt Wallace, Perseverance deputy project manager at JPL
• Luis Dominguez, Perseverance deputy electrical integration and test lead at JPL
• Omar Baez, launch director in NASA’s Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

To participate in the call, media must RSVP by noon Tuesday, June 16, to Rexana Vizza or Mark Petrovich of JPL's Digital News and Media Office at rexana.v.vizza@jpl.nasa.gov or mark.petrovich@jpl.nasa.gov or call 818-354-5011. Valid media credentials are required. Media and the public also may ask questions on social media during the briefing using #AskNASA.

The mission is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:15 a.m. EDT (6:15 a.m. PDT) July 20. The launch is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program. It will land at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

For more about Perseverance visit:

https://nasa.gov/perseverance

and

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

-end-

Press Contacts

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

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