UNLV professors part of NASA Mars rover mission

Arya Udry

by Sara MacNeil

When Arya Udry was a little girl, she would stare at the sky and ponder the possibility of life beyond Earth.

So when NASA selected the UNLV professor to be part of its Mars 2020 rover mission, Udry was over the moon.

“At 32, to be selected so young for this mission is incredible,” Udry said.

NASA chose Udry and 12 other scientists, including fellow UNLV professor Elisabeth “Libby” Hausrath, out of more than 100 applicants for the mission.

Udry and Hausrath will use a remote rover to search for signs of water and evidence of past life on Mars.

“We are now discovering that ancient Mars could have been habitable and thus could have harbored life in the past,” Udry said. “However, we have no evidence it actually happened.”

NASA’s robotic spacecraft is scheduled to land on Mars in February after being launched from an Air Force base in Florida in July.

Read entire article at the Las Vegas Sun: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/dec/29/unlv-professors-part-of-nasa-mars-rover-mission/