The Coastal Carolina University Gupta College of Science will livestream NASA's Mars Perseverance rover landing on Thursday, Feb. 18, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Ian Hewitt, teaching associate in the Department of Physics and Engineering Science, will provide commentary to the NASA broadcast and also speak about Mars science and the mission objectives.

The livestream will be shown on the Gupta College YouTube channel. The rover landing is expected around 4 p.m.

According to NASA, during the landing, the rover will plunge through the thin Martian atmosphere, with the heat shield first, at a speed of more than 12,000 mph. A parachute and powered descent will slow the rover down to about 2 mph. A large sky crane will then lower the rover onto three bridle cords to land softly on six wheels. If the landing is successful, the rover's new home will be Jezero Crater, a large impact crater about 28 miles wide just north of the Martian equator. Jezero once contained a lake, which scientists think is one of the most ideal places to find evidence of ancient microbial life. Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars - by any space agency - have been successful. Perseverance is only the fifth NASA rover to attempt landing on Mars.

For more information, contact Hewitt at ihewitt@coastal.edu.