Katie Stack Morgan

So the engineers put those new wheels for Perseverance through their paces, and they drove those things around and around and around to make sure that, you know, there would be no dents, no scratches, no tears, no rips.

And so far, they've been very successful, and our wheels are not a thing we think about on Perseverance.

We can hear those wheels grinding on rocks.

We can hear the mechanisms of the rover moving around.

So really making that experience a multi-sensory, like-we-were-there kind of experience.

So not just knowing our organics in a rock, but where are the organics in the rock?

Because sometimes, depending on where those organics are or where certain minerals are, that could be a pattern or fingerprint that life leaves behind.

But if you take that rock, break it down into tiny little pieces, and put it into an instrument, you lose a lot of information.

And so Perseverance has special instruments on its arm so that...

They can analyze little postage stamps, sized pieces of Martian rocks, but they preserve the textures.

They're non-destructive.

And so we can actually make these maps of composition, organics, and different minerals, but without damaging those rocks and preserving those possible patterns that might be there.

And so I thought, wow, this has really come full circle, where as part of this concept, thought it was done, and then now it has reemerged.

Literally, phoenix rising from the ashes in this case.

It was amazing to see the development of Ingenuity.

I mean, it's just, wow, you know, our whole world is this rover exploring this place.

And then you see these rovers from a totally different perspective.

And you're reminded that you're this rover driving around in this big crater.

We often live and see Mars through the rover.

And it's a reminder that, you know, that rover is indeed a robot working on another planet.