The early adventures of the Perseverance rover in Jezero crater, Mars 

Was there life on Mars? Since touching down at Octavia E. Butler Landing on the surface of Mars in February 2021, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has had an exciting and productive first nine months in Jezero crater, the 50 km-diameter impact crater it now calls home. Perseverance with its sidekick, the Ingenuity helicopter, is now busy exploring the crater searching for evidence of ancient extraterrestrial life and collecting rock samples to bring back to Earth.

In this Christmas lecture, Professor Sanjeev Gupta will discuss the early adventures of the rover in its geological exploration of Jezero crater and share the early discoveries that have been made.

Sanjeev Gupta is Professor of Earth Sciences at Imperial College London. He is a geologist by training and has spent much of his career studying sedimentary rock formations in places like the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and landscapes under the sea in the English Channel. In the past 10 years, he switched his attention to exploring the geology of Mars. Sanjeev is a science team member on NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rover missions. He is also part of the upcoming ESA Rosalind Franklin rover mission.

The lecture is aimed at 11–16 year old future space explorers. It will last for one hour and is free to attend.

The lecture will be recorded and will be made available to view shortly after the event.