NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 10, to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the agency\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper.<\/p>\n
The sample, called \u201cSapphire Canyon,\u201d was collected in July 2024 from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.<\/p>\n
Audio and visuals of the call will stream on the agency\u2019s website at:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/live<\/a><\/p>\n Participants in the teleconference include:<\/p>\n Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy To ask questions by phone, members of the media must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the event to: rexana.v.vizza@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a>. NASA\u2019s media accreditation policy<\/a> is available online.<\/p>\n Since landing in the Red Planet\u2019s Jezero Crater in February 2021, Perseverance has collected 30 samples<\/a>. The rover still has six empty sample tubes to fill, and it continues to collect detailed information about geologic targets that it hasn\u2019t sampled by using its abrasion tool<\/a>. Among the rover\u2019s science instruments is a weather station that provides environmental information for future human missions, as well as swatches of spacesuit material<\/a> so that NASA can study how it fares on Mars.<\/p>\n Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA\u2019s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.<\/p>\n To learn more about Perseverance visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/perseverance<\/a><\/p>\n -end-<\/p>\n Bethany Stevens \/ Karen Fox
\nNicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
\nLindsay Hays, Senior Scientist for Mars Exploration, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
\nKatie Stack Morgan, Perseverance Project Scientist, NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California
\nJoel Hurowitz, planetary scientist, Stony Brook University, New York<\/p>\n
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n