An exhibit at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science opens Friday that shows how NASA is gathering information from the rover and helicopter on Mars. "Mission Mars: Perseverance Rover" includes replicas of NASA's Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter.
"One of the exciting things about coming to see an exhibit like this is you can get right up close and personal with a full-scale model of a few of these machines that are working on Mars," says Mars Sample Return System Manager Chris Salvo.
The exhibit also includes sounds, video and pictures gathered by the two as well as a full-scale model of a launch system now being developed for a potential future mission to bring samples back to Earth. Ultimately, NASA and the European Space Agency are working together on a plan to bring soil samples to Earth for more study.
"We endeavor to keep it moving forward and actually getting these samples back so they can be studied in laboratories on Earth," Salvo says.
Salvo says the exhibit can show how many different branches of science work together on a project like this from the design of the spacecraft, helicopter and rover, which operates in an environment with 38% of the gravity of Earth, to power generation to figuring out how to send information back to Earth.
"Seeing this up close, we hope, is the sort of interaction that inspires the next generation to want to be a part of this and push themselves past what they think are their limits and go after that," Salvo says.
While showing kids the variety of potential careers in science, Salvo says the exhibit can also show everyone what NASA hopes to learn from the mission.
"The whole of creation is tied together from the same physics. It all operates under the same rules," he says. "As we learn about things on Mars, we're learning about the solar system as a whole. We compare things to what we observe on Earth."
Also opening at the Perot Museum Friday is “Sound Trek: Journey of Sound." The museum says that exhibit shows how humans experience sound, how our ears work and learn about how we process sound.
Sound Trek: Journey of Sound includes an interactive experiment in the BioLab. The Perot Museum worked with Lucid Hearing to create the exhibit looking at hearing health.
Both exhibits are included in the price of admission.
For spring break, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is extending its hours. From Saturday March 9 through Sunday March 17, the museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The price of admission will also include a pair of eclipse glasses based on availability.
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