WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated the NASA team responsible for last month’s successful landing of an unmanned rover on Mars for giving the country a “dose of confidence” at a moment when the nation’s reputation as a scientific leader has been tattered by the coronavirus pandemic. Biden speaking in video conference call with the leadership of space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory team expressed awe over the Feb. 18 landing of Perseverance. The NASA rover traveled some 300 million miles in nearly seven months, as part of an ongoing quest to study whether there was once life on the planet.
