3 min read
An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team MeetingA behind-the-scenes look at the annual Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
Members of the Mars 2020 Science Team examine post-impact sediments within the Gardnos impact structure, northwest of Oslo, Norway, as part of the June 2025 Science Team Meeting. NASA/Katie Stack MorganWritten by Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 Acting Project Scientist
The Mars 2020 Science Team gathered for a week in June to discuss recent science results, synthesize earlier mission observations, and discuss future plans for continued exploration of Jezero’s crater rim. It was also an opportunity to celebrate what makes this mission so special: one of the most capable and sophisticated science missions ever sent to Mars, an experienced and expert Science Team, and the rover’s many science accomplishments this past year.
We kicked off the meeting, which was hosted by our colleagues on the RIMFAX team at the University of Oslo, with a focus on our most recent discoveries on the Jezero crater rim. A highlight was the team’s in-depth discussion of spherules observed at Witch Hazel Hill, features which likely provide us the best chance of determining the origin of the crater rim rock sequence.
On the second day, we heard status updates from each of the science instrument teams. We then transitioned to a session devoted to “traverse-scale” syntheses. After 4.5 years of Perseverance on Mars and more than 37 kilometers of driving (more than 23 miles), we’re now able to analyze and integrate science datasets across the entire surface mission, looking for trends through space and time within the Jezero rock record. Our team also held a poster session, which was a great opportunity for in-person and informal scientific discussion.
The team’s modern atmospheric and environmental investigations were front and center on Day 3. We then rewound the clock, hearing new and updated analyses of data acquired during Perseverance’s earlier campaigns in Jezero’s Margin unit, crater floor, and western fan. The last day of the meeting was focused entirely on future plans for the Perseverance rover, including a discussion of our exploration and sampling strategy during the Crater Rim Campaign. We also looked further afield, considering where the rover might explore over the next few years.
Following the meeting, the Science Team took a one-day field trip to visit Gardnos crater, a heavily eroded impact crater with excellent examples of impact melt breccia and post-impact sediment fill. The team’s visit to Gardnos offered a unique opportunity to see and study impact-generated rock units like those expected on the Jezero crater rim and to discuss the challenges we have recognizing similar units with the rover on Mars. Recapping our Perseverance team meetings has been one of my favorite yearly traditions (see summaries from our 2022, 2023, and 2024 meetings) and I look forward to reporting back a year from now. As the Perseverance team tackles challenges in the year to come, we can seek inspiration from one of Norway’s greatest polar explorers, Fridtjof Nansen, who said while delivering his Nobel lecture, “The difficult is that which can be done at once; the impossible is that which takes a little longer.”
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 01, 2025Related Terms
BlogsExplore More
2 min readCuriosity Blog, Sols 4584–4585: Just a Small Bump
Article 1 hour ago4 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4582-4583: A Rock and a Sand Patch
Article 3 days ago2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4580-4581: Something in the Air…
Article 5 days agoKeep Exploring
Discover More Topics From NASA
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
All Mars Resources
Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
Rover Basics
Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
Mars Exploration: Science Goals
The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting )
Also on site :