Fort Worth, Texas (February 10, 2021)?—?After almost a year in space, NASA's Perseverance rover will make its terrifying seven-minute journey to the Martian surface. In celebration of this historic feat, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will bring together staff scientists, students in the Museum's Little Scholars Program, and the Fort Worth community to observe the upcoming Perseverance landing while learning about the science of space exploration.
The descent to Mars, which NASA has referred to as “Seven Minutes of Terror,” will see the lander containing the Perseverance rover go from 12,500 miles per hour to land in the Jezero crater, a 28-mile-wide crater that scientists believe could have once held microbial life. This is far from a guaranteed success for NASA’s 2.7 billion dollar investment, as the success rate for Mars missions since 1960 is about 50%. During these seven minutes, the mission relies on automated systems to control the descent which adapt to local conditions to land safely.
Dr. Morgan Rehnberg, the Museum’s Chief Scientist, described the upcoming landing as “an opportunity to witness space exploration at its most exciting,” adding that “with Perseverance, NASA is taking its biggest step yet in the search for life outside of Earth.”
The event will include hands-on experiments, chats with our experts, and other scheduled activities on Thursday, February 18.
Between 8 AM and 1:30 PM the FWMSH Little Scholars will rotate through a series of special space-themed activities with their pods in the Museum. Our community can participate in the same activities at home by following along with the Museum’s prerecorded selection of videos and activity supply sheets: fwmuseum.org/mars-landing-event.
At 1:30 PM, our resident experts, Dr. Morgan Rehnberg and Dr. Doug Roberts, will go live on the Museum’s Facebook page to discuss the importance of this historic landing and answer questions from the community. When the moment finally arrives, viewers will be able to navigate to NASA’s live stream to view the event as it happens.
Schedule of Events:
- Ongoing | Follow along with at-home experiences: fwmuseum.org/mars-landing-event
- 1:30 PM | Live Q&A with Dr. Morgan Rehnberg and Dr. Doug Roberts
- 2:15 PM | Handoff to NASA Live Stream
- 2:55 PM | Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars
This event represents one piece of the Museum’s new hybrid programming model which combines in-person learning opportunities and special events with digital community-based experiences. To learn more about the Museum's upcoming schedule of hybrid programs, visit our upcoming events page: fwmuseum.org/explore/upcoming-events.
To view on your web browser, please visit our press page.
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