In a stunning engineering feat, Perseverance, the largest and most complex Mars rover yet, landed successfully on Mars on the floor of Jezero crater on February 18, 2021. Its mission is ambitious: seek signs of ancient life and collect samples for future return to Earth. Perseverance and its predecessor Curiosity have and continue to revolutionize our view of the Red Planet, and returned samples just might revolutionize our view of life itself. As a geologist on both mission teams, Kirsten will share the motivation and context for these missions, our new and evolving understanding of our neighboring planet, and how it teaches us about our own world, along with resources to share the excitement with students.

SPEAKERS:
Kirsten Siebach (Rice University: Houston, TX)