BY KAREN BOSSICK
Learn about the Idaho National Laboratory’s role in powering the Mars Rover Perseverance during a free virtual talk on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Kelly Lively, INL Project Manager for NASA Space Missions, will discuss the cutting-edge research and field questions at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, via a virtual talk set up by the Hailey Public Library.
Lively and 21 other INL workers recently returned from an extended stay at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center where they supported the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for its seven-month journey to Mars. INL staff assembled, tested and delivered the radioisotope power system that allows the rover to move, use its science instruments and communicate with scientists on Earth.
Perseverance took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 30 and is scheduled to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021.
“The INL is involved in innovative research which contributes to deep-space scientific exploration,” said Kristin Fletcher, the library’s adult programs coordinator.
Indeed, the Perseverance will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA’s quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. It has a drill to collect core samples of Martian rock and soil. The samples will be stored in sealed tubes to be picked up by a future mission.
It will also help test oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere.
To attend the virtual talk, RSVP to Kristin.fletcher@haileypubliclibrary.org.