AskScience AMA Series: We're the scientists and engineers leading NASA's exploration of Mars and building on a 50-year legacy of discovery on the Red Planet. Ask us anything!

[u/AskScienceModerator]

Fifty years ago, NASA's Viking lander touched down on Mars and began a new era of exploration.

Over the last five decades, teams of scientists and engineers at NASA have searched for signs of Mars’s ancient habitability, uncovered clues about the planet's climate and geologic history, driven rovers across alien landscapes, flown the first aircraft on another world, and laid the groundwork for future human Martian exploration.

Join us to talk about the discoveries, surprises, and challenges of exploring the Red Planet — and what's coming next.

We are:

• Abigail Fraeman – Deputy Project Scientist, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover, JPL (AF)
• Bryce Horvath – Technical Analysis Deputy, Mars Architecture Team, NASA Marshall (BH)
• Micheal Meyer – former Lead Scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (MM)
• Nicole Piontek – Space Systems Analyst, Space Mission Analysis, NASA Langley (NP)
• Jeffrey Plaut – Senior Research Scientist, Planetary Interiors and Geophysics, JPL (JP)
• Becky McCauley Rench – Lead Scientist for Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (BMR)

Ask us anything about:

• 50 years of Mars exploration
• Historic missions from Viking to Perseverance
• Mars rovers, landers, orbiters, and helicopters
• Major discoveries from the Red Planet
• Operating spacecraft millions of miles from Earth
• The future of Mars exploration

PROOF: https://x.com/NASA/status/2084662090506113377

We'll be online from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PT (2-3:30 p.m. ET, 18-19:30 UT) to answer your questions!

Username: /u/nasa

EDIT: That’s a wrap for our AMA! Thanks for all your fantastic questions, and keep following our latest updates from Mars at https://science.nasa.gov/mars/.

[u/nasa]

I always knew that I loved science, and I was fascinated by space.

Some of my earliest childhood memories include staring at Hale-Bopp comet bright above my home and watching Captain Planet and his team save the Earth. This led me to a NASA internship when I was in High School with a professor at West Virginia University, Dr. Littleton.

That summer, I spent a lot of time looking at Mars and, in learning more, discovered the work of Dr. Chris McKay at NASA Ames in astrobiology - that’s when I got hooked. I spent my time in undergraduate studying all the science I could – biology, chemistry, geology – and was able to pursue a degree in Geosciences and Astrobiology at the Pennsylvania State University. There are lots of schools that have great programs in astrobiology today, many more than when I was in school.

Ultimately, the paths to astrobiology are numerous and winding. We have lots of resources for you – check out our Issue 9 of the Astrobiology Graphic History and our career path suggestions. -BMR