NASA will host a media teleconference to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper. The sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” was collected in July 2024 from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago. Participants in the teleconference include: - Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy - Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington - Lindsay Hays, Senior Scientist for Mars Exploration, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters - Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance Project Scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion - Joel Hurowitz, planetary scientist, Stony Brook University, New York