NASA Director of the Technology Demonstration Missions Program, Trudy Kortes moderates a panel discussion titled “Technology Drives Exploration: Paving the Next Era of Space Exploration” during the 36th Space Symposium, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Director of the Technology Demonstration Missions Program, Trudy Kortes moderates a panel discussion titled “Technology Drives Exploration: Paving the Next Era of Space Exploration” during the 36th Space Symposium, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Director of technology demonstrations, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, Trudy Kortes, gives remarks via remote during a NASA Perseverance rover mission engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. 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. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Director of the Technology Demonstration Missions Program, Trudy Kortes moderates a panel discussion titled “Technology Drives Exploration: Paving the Next Era of Space Exploration” with NASA Senior Advisor for Budget and Finance Bhavya Lal; Director of the Program Management Office at MSI STEM Research and Development Consortium (MSRDC), Latonia Jones; Vice President and General Manager, Commercial Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Space, Lisa Callahan; and Executive Vice President, Sierra Space, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Janet Kavandi, right, during the 36th Space Symposium, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Director of technology demonstrations, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, Trudy Kortes, screen left, and Chief engineer, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, Jeff Sheehy, give remarks via remote during a NASA Perseverance rover mission engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. 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. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA and JPL Perseverance Mars rover mission management are seen during an engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. 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. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA and JPL Perseverance Mars rover mission management are seen during an engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. 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. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)