Experts from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, interactive programs offer insights into the Red Planet
SAN FRANCISCO (January 11, 2022)—This winter and spring, the Exploratorium will host a full-scale, lifelike model of NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover, on loan from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Beginning February 17, 2022, visitors to the museum will get a close up look at the six-wheeled, camera-topped, ingenious rover that has been exploring the surface of Mars since its historic landing on February 18, 2021. The model will remain on display at the museum through May 1, 2022.
“It’s an honor for the Exploratorium to be the temporary home to this amazing model as part of NASA’s Roving with Perseverance tour,” said Kathleen Maguire, senior manager of public programs. “We’re so excited to share it with our visitors and celebrate the anniversary of its historic landing on Mars a year ago.”
The Perseverance Rover is nearly the size of a car, with a camera “head” that rises high and captures images and footage of Mars’ terrain. Since landing on Mars, Perseverance has been transforming humans’ understanding of the planet’s surface and hunting for signs of ancient microscopic life on the planet. At the Exploratorium, visitors will be invited to dig deeper into Perseverance with an immersive audio experience surrounding the model which was crafted from the rich audio that Perseverance has captured from its two onboard microphones, visual experiences inspired by space in the museum’s Wattis Studio, and special programs for all ages featuring staff from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, local experts on Mars, tinkerers inspired by Mars, and more.
The Exploratorium will also host special programs to celebrate the first anniversary of Perseverance’s landing on Saturday and Sunday, February 19-20, 2022, and at After Dark on February 17th. At these anniversary celebrations visitors to the museum can experience the model and hear directly from Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers about the rover, what it's finding, and NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, and experience youth and artist-made projects and hands-on activities inspired by space exploration.
The Exploratorium acknowledges with gratitude our community partners: San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, KGO/ABC7, BART, and San Francisco Magazine.
Calendar Editors, Please Note:
February 17, 2022 - May 1, 2022
While NASA’s Perseverance Rover is hard at work exploring Mars hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, a full-scale, lifelike model finds a temporary home at the Exploratorium! Since landing on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, Perseverance has been hunting for signs of ancient microbial life in order to collect and store samples of Martian rock and sediment to be retrieved by planned future missions for closer study on Earth. Keep an eye out for a collection of out-of-this world programs featuring staff from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well as local experts and tinkerers exploring Mars and more.
