Welcome to Space Science week at Georgia Tech!  Georgia Tech’s Center for Space Tecnology and Research and the ExplOrigins team–our GT Early career Astrobiology community–are teaming up to bring you a fantastic week of events and information about the Red Planet, and the history and exploration of our solar system.  We’re excited to showcase some of the exciting work being done here at Tech, and help celebrate the landing of NASA’s Perseverance Rover on Mars this Thursday!
Each day, we’ll send out some Mars Minutes to help you get informed and excited for the big events this Wednesday through Friday.  The schedule follows below.

Today’s Mars Minute is a rundown of the Mars 2020 mission and the Perseverance Rove
Every two years, the orbits are right to send a mission to Mars.  With the Mars 2020 mission, the goal is to start the ambitious Mars Sample Return program.  The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA’s quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The rover has a drill to collect core samples of Martian rock and soil, then store them in sealed tubes for pickup by a future mission that would ferry them back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perseverance will also test technologies to help pave the way for future human exploration of Mars. Strapped to the rover’s belly for the journey to Mars is a technology demonstration — the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, may achieve a “Wright Brothers moment “ by testing the first powered flight on the Red Planet.

Check out the Mars 2020 Mission Trailer here:https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25473/perseverance-arrives-at-mars-feb-18-2021-mission-trailer/

Check out details here: