DiscoverScience on Player FMCan NASA Deliver on Perseverance’s Promise to Reveal Life on Mars? - Science Quickly
Can NASA Deliver on Perseverance’s Promise to Reveal Life on Mars? - Science Quickly

Can NASA Deliver on Perseverance’s Promise to Reveal Life on Mars? - Science Quickly

Update: 2025-12-10
Share

Description

NASA’s Perseverance rover has spent nearly five years roaming the Martian surface in search of clues to ancient life. But the ambitious plan to return its precious rock samples to Earth is now on shaky ground. Scientific American senior desk editor Lee Billings joins us to unpack the rover’s mission, the stakes of the stalled return effort and the effects it will have on the future of Mars exploration.




Recommended Reading


NASA Recruits Mars Perseverance Rover to Monitor Sun’s Activity


This Rock May Hold Proof of Life on Mars




E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!


Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.


Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Can NASA Deliver on Perseverance’s Promise to Reveal Life on Mars? - Science Quickly

Can NASA Deliver on Perseverance’s Promise to Reveal Life on Mars? - Science Quickly