Media Telecon Materials - Mar. 5, 2021
Mission team members are participating in a virtual teleconference to discuss milestones achieved so far since the Feb. 18 landing and those to come.
Since NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover touched down at Jezero Crater Feb. 18, mission controllers have made substantial progress as they prepare the rover for the unpaved road ahead. Mission team members from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will discuss mission “firsts” achieved so far and those to come in a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. EST (12:30 p.m. PST) Friday, March 5.
The teleconference audio and accompanying visuals will stream live on the NASA JPL YouTube channel.
Discussing the rover’s progress will be:
- Robert Hogg, Perseverance deputy mission manager, JPL
- Anais Zarifian, Perseverance mobility test bed engineer, JPL
- Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist, JPL
Members of the media and public may ask questions on social media during the teleconference using #CountdownToMars.
Robert Hogg
R1
This image was taken during the first drive of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4, 2021. Perseverance landed on Feb. 18, 2021, and the team has been spending the weeks since landing checking out the rover to prepare for surface operations. This image was taken by the rover’s Navigation Cameras. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Image
R2
This simulation shows the motions the robotic arm on NASA’s Perseverance rover carried out during its first two-hour checkout on Mars. This simulation does not run in real-time. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
R3
This set of images shows parts of the robotic arm on NASA’s Perseverance rover flexing and turning during its first checkout after landing on Mars. These images were taken by Perseverance’s Navigation Cameras on March 3, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
R4
This set of images shows part of the deployment of the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) wind sensors on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, taken by the rover’s Navigation Cameras on Feb. 28, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
Anais Zarifian
A1
This video clip shows the first drive of NASA’s Perseverance rover in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before the rover launched to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
A2
NASA’s Perseverance rover wiggles one of its wheels in this set of images obtained by the rover’s left Navigation Camera on March 4, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
A3
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory driving the agency’s Perseverance rover use visualization software to plan how the rover moves around on Mars. This clip from their visualization shows the rover’s first drive on March 4, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Video
A4
This image was captured while NASA’s Perseverance rover drove on Mars for the first time on March 4, 2021. One of Perseverance’s Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) captured this image as the rover completed a short traverse and turn from its landing site in Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Image
Katie Stack Morgan
K1
NASA has named the landing site of the agency’s Perseverance rover after the science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, as seen in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Experiment camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download Image
K2
A photograph of the author Octavia E. Butler, provided by Writers House Literary Agency. Courtesy Ching-Ming Cheung Download Image
K3
Taken Feb. 22, 2021, this image from the Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover shows a target for analysis by the rover’s SuperCam instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Download Image
K4
From its landing site, “Octavia E. Butler Landing,” NASA’s Perseverance rover can see a remnant of a fan-shaped deposit of sediments known as a delta (the raised area of dark brown rock in the middle ground) with its Mastcam-Z instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Download Image
K5
This image shows two possible routes (blue and purple) to the fan-shaped deposit of sediments known as a delta for NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. The yellow line marks a notional traverse exploring the Jezero delta. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Download Image
