NASA to Discuss Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission with Space Foundation

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA leadership will participate in a virtual discussion with the Space Foundation on the upcoming Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch at 1 p.m. EDT Monday, July 20. The event, called Roving the Red Planet, will stream live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

The Space Foundation will moderate the discussion, which features NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who will highlight how NASA's Artemis program for the Moon and the Mars Perseverance rover mission are helping prepare humanity for its next giant leap – human exploration of Mars. Other panelists include:

• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate
• Michael Watkins, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
• MiMi Aung, Ingenuity helicopter project manager, JPL
• Thomas Zelibor, chief executive officer, Space Foundation

Media can submit questions online using the hashtag #askSF.

The Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 7:50 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 30. It will land at Jezero Crater on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021.

The mission, managed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate and JPL, will provide key insight into some of the challenges associated with future human exploration of Mars. NASA's Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center is managing the launch.

For more information about America's Moon to Mars exploration plans, see:

https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars 

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SOURCE NASA