Gearing up for a ‘monumental’ mission to Mars

Gearing up for a ‘monumental’ mission to Mars



Mechatronics engineer Zach Ousnamer is part of the team that built NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, which is due to launch this month or next. The mission aims to seek signs of ancient life, and will be the first to return samples from the red planet. Since February, Ousnamer has been based at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, helping to put the finishing touches on the rover. “It’s nice to take a step back and think how we’ve sent rovers to other planets only a handful of times. It’s pretty monumental.” (Nature | 3 min read) (Rocco Ceselin)