Celebrate Perseverance rover's 1-year 'Marsiversary' with these events

News
By Mike Wall
published

There are in-person options for some folks and virtual opportunities for anyone with internet access.

NASA's Perseverance rover, which is searching signs of ancient life on Mars.
NASA's Perseverance rover, which is searching signs of ancient life on Mars. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

The Perseverance rover is about to celebrate one year on Mars, and NASA wants you to be part of the party.

The space agency and mission team members are holding a variety of events around the country to mark the "Marsiversary" of the life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance and the tiny helicopter Ingenuity, which touched down with the rover on Feb. 18, 2021. 

There are exciting in-person events in some places — full-size Perseverance models will be on display in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City, for example — and online experiences that everyone with internet access can enjoy. 

Related: Where to find the latest Mars photos from the Perseverance rover

For instance, Perseverance Project Manager Jennifer Trosper and Deputy Project Scientist Katie Stack Morgan are giving a talk at 10 p.m. EST on Thursday (Feb. 15; 0300 GMT on Feb. 16) about the science findings from the rover's first year on the Red Planet. You can watch it for free on the YouTube channel of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages Perseverance's mission.

Ingenuity Team Lead Teddy Tzanetos will talk at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Thursday, in an online event organized by the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. This one is free, too, but you have to register ahead of time.

The events run from Thursday through Monday (Feb. 21), and NASA provides a full listing of them here. So take a look, and set some time aside over the next few days to celebrate with the Perseverance and Ingenuity teams and learn more about their pioneering missions!

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook. 

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.