Rachel Kronyak, Systems Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, will discuss all things Mars Sample Return. Her talk will begin with an introduction of the motivation for returning samples from Mars and how they are planning to bring the samples back to Earth. She will also discuss the crucial first step of Mars Sample Return – selecting and collecting the samples, which the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is actively pursuing. Finally, she will touch on how science operations are performed with Perseverance, what the sample collection looks like so far, and the path ahead.

About the speaker: Rachel Kronyak is a Systems Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She received a B.S. in Geobiology from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Tennessee. Rachel currently works in science operations for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, serving in several tactical and strategic operational roles. She has more than 9 years of science operations experience, including several roles on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover mission. She also works as the Sample Integrity lead for the Mars Sample Return Program. Prior to her current role as Systems Engineer, Rachel was a held a postdoctoral position at JPL, during which she conducted geological mapping of the Jezero crater delta.