Countdown to Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch

Listen in on the conversation with experts from USC Dornsife, USC Viterbi and the California Science Center about the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch. Kenneth Phillips is Curator for Aerospace Science at the California Science Center and an adjunct professor of the practice of physics and astronomy at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He’s an expert in aeronautics, space exploration and science education. Anita Sengupta is an associate professor of astronautics at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and a former engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She’s an expert in spacecraft design for interplanetary exploration and was responsible for the supersonic parachute system of the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars in 2012. Ken Nealson is an emeritus professor of Earth science at the Dornsife College. He is an expert in astrobiology, microbial life in extreme environments and the evolution of life in the universe. He led the astrobiology program at JPL, started the geobiology program at USC and is a member of the science team for the 2020 Mars mission. Garrett Reisman is a professor of astronautical engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC. He was an astronaut for NASA and conducted missions aboard the Space Shuttles Endeavor, Discovery and Atlantis as well as the International Space Station. He was also director of space operations for SpaceX and remains a senior advisor to the company.