Posted: February 5, 2021
Perseverance, a car-sized Mars rover set to land in less than a month, began and will end with students. Its very name came from a student, seventh-grader Alex Mather from Virginia, in accordance with a NASA tradition. Now students and teachers worldwide are invited to watch and take part as the rover finally lands.
Perseverance’s broadcast can be watched live on NASA’s website starting Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. HST. Commentary begins at 9:15 a.m. in both English and Spanish and the touchdown will happen around 10:55 a.m.
The rover launched on July 30, 2020, and is the fifth NASA rover destined for Mars. When it lands on the Jezero Crater, equipped with a ground-penetrating radar called RIMFAX and a first-of-its-kind helicopter named Ingenuity, it will search for signs of past microbial life. The Perseverance rover’s path will be similar to the one its predecessor, Curiosity, took nine years ago.
In addition, NASA has created a Mars 2020 STEM Toolkit known as the #CountdowntoMars to engage students and educators in the weeks leading up to the rover’s landing. Students all over the world are encouraged to participate in the Mission to Mars Student Challenge, a free five-week program where they learn to build and design their own mission to Mars. The program includes activities, weekly newsletters, professional development for teachers, and opportunities to talk to NASA engineers and scientists through livestream Q&As.
Although the program began on Jan. 8, registering is possible at any time. Upcoming events include an interactive Teacher Showcase on Feb. 6 at 8 a.m. HST. The Mission to Mars Student Challenge is available to students of all grades, schools, and organizations.
Although aimed towards those learning and teaching STEM, this opportunity is open to everyone and already includes more than 660,000 students worldwide. Register for free here.
Featured photo courtesy NASA.