BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Perseverance Rover is headed to Mars Thursday, and WWU will be part of the effort.
The Mars Lab team of planetary geology researchers is part of the Science and Engineering school at Western and is led by Dr. Melissa Rice.
The student group is using spacecraft observations and laboratory analyses to help understand the history of water on Mars.
Dr. Rice says this mission will have some firsts, including a helicopter that will be the first to fly in the atmosphere of another planet.
The Mars Lab has been working with NASA on the Curiosity Rover mission already on Mars.
The Perseverance Rover is expected to reach the red planet February of next year.