In February, the latest US rover named Perseverance landed on Mars and began what is expected to be a historic exploration of the Red Planet. Equipped with high-resolution cameras, microphones, drills, scoopers, and a helicopter, the mission aims to find evidence of microbial life from 3.5 billion years and decipher what happened to that planet. Already, Perseverance is navigating its landing spot in Jezero Crater, finding rocks that appear to have been molded by water and wind, taking pictures of volcanic rocks, and starting to move around the crater.

In this episode of TechTank, Darrell West speaks with NASA specialist and planetary geologist Vicky Hamilton of the Southwest Research Institute. The two of them discuss the benefits of space exploration, what we have learned from past missions, and how scientists are testing for ancient life on Mars. 

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