Mary Voytek, director of the NASA Astrobiology Program at NASA Headquarters, joined other experts in a press conference on February 17, 2021, to speak about NASA’s search for life on Mars. Mission experts discussed how the Mars 2020 rover will take samples on the surface of Mars for a future mission, Mars Sample Return, to return to Earth. View the video above, or visit the NASAJPL YouTube Channel.

Speakers include:

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, NASA Headquarters
Bobby Braun, Mars Sample Return program manager, JPL
David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration, ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Netherlands
Mary Voytek, director of NASA’s astrobiology program, NASA Headquarters
Ken Williford, Perseverance deputy project scientist, JPL
Libby Hausrath, participating scientist for returned sample science, University of Nevada Las Vegas

For more information, how to participate in the mission and how to watch landing live, visit https://go.nasa.gov/mars2020toolkit​