Aerial coordinator and test pilot Kevin LaRosa II describes what it takes to safely plan and document breathtaking footage of aircraft at a presentation at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. He has a long list of film credits, including “Ironman”; “Avengers”; “Transformer 5”; “Top Gun: Maverick”; and “Devotion”.

Aerial coordinator and test pilot Kevin LaRosa II describes what it takes to safely plan and document breathtaking footage of aircraft at a presentation at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. He has a long list of film credits, including “Ironman”; “Avengers”; “Transformer 5”; “Top Gun: Maverick”; and “Devotion”.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana hug during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, right, looks on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy delivers remarks during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy hugs NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, participate in a moment of silence during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, left, delivers remarks during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, center, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, right, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, second from right, answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Press Secretary Jackie McGuinness, left, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, second from left, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, delivers remarks during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, center, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, center, answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, answers a question from staff during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, center, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, delivers remarks during the NASA Day of Remembrance Employee Safety Town Hall as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, center, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, right, look on, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

This animation is a playback of data recorded by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover during an autonomous drive on July 15, 2023, the 854th day, or sol, of the mission. During this drive, the rover identified and navigated around the 14-inch (35-centimeter) rock seen at center-left. The self-driving autonomous navigation system, AutoNav, allows the rover to autonomously re-plan its route around rocks or other obstacles on its way to a pre-established destination. Engineers driving the rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California use visualization software to plan how the rover moves around on Mars and to evaluate its performance. The lines seen emanating from the front of the rover are 20 feet (6 meters) long and indicate the paths the rover is evaluating for safety in real time, while driving. Lines that turn blue show where the rover identified a "wheel drop" hazard – where a wheel could drop more than 14 inches (35 centimeters). Magenta lines indicate where the rover saw a belly pan clearance issue – where a terrain feature could get too close to the belly pan underneath the rover. The surrounding white terrain is a digital elevation model that the rover creates onboard using navigation camera images. The animation has been sped up compared to real time. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26073