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Will we find life on Mars?

On Thursday, February 18, 2021, the Mars Perseverance rover will land at the site of an ancient river delta in a lake that was once filled known as Jezero Crater.\xa0 The rover will spend at least one Mars year (two Earth years) searching for signs of ancient life!

What happens when the Mars Perseverance rover lands on Mars this Thursday? \xa0

What is EDL and why does it make for such a stressful moment?

What are some of the differences with this rover \u201cPercey,\u201d vs. Curiosity?\xa0

What is a sky crane? How will it work?

The specific location where Percy is intending to land is important and significant. Why?

Answers to these questions and more, on this BONUS episode of Casual Space with Dr. Tanya Harrison, and Dr. Graham Lau.\xa0 Tanya is a respected Mars expert who worked as a geoscientist and mission operations specialist on multiple NASA Mars missions over the past 13 years, including the Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance rovers, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.\xa0 Dr. Tanya is a respected thought leader in the commercial space sector and has served as Director of Research for\xa0Arizona State University\u2019s NewSpace Initiative. \xa0Currently, Tanya \xa0works as the Director of Science Strategy for the federal arm of the Earth observing satellite company\xa0Planet Labs.\xa0Tanya holds a Ph.D. in Geology with a Specialization in Planetary Science and Exploration from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Graham Lau is an astrobiologist and communicator of science, and many people know him online as \u201cThe Cosmobiologist.\u201d Dr. Graham Lau also serves as the Director of Communications and Marketing for Blue Marble Space, a Research Scientist with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, the Director of Logistics for the University Rover Challenge, and the host of the NASA Astrobiology and SAGANet show \u201cAsk an Astrobiologist\u201d.

To learn more about Dr. Tanya and her work: https://www.tanyaharrison.com/

To learn more about Dr. Lau and his work: https://cosmobiota.com/

This will be the very first attempt of a sample return from Mars! To learn more about this very long and complicated process, check out: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars-sample-return-msr

To learn more about Mars Perseverance Rover: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/

And don\u2019t miss this LANDING TOOLKIT: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/\xa0

Curiosity is STILL exploring Mars! Check out the continued activity at: \xa0https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/

And, JOIN THE LIVE WATCH PARTY AT https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/watch-online/

Watch with Tanya at WeMartians: https://www.wemartians.com/

Watch with Dr. Graham Lau and Beth Mund at Explore Mars: https://www.exploremars.org/