NASA has announced that its next rover to Mars in 2020 will carry seven special instruments designed to conduct an unprecedented study of the Red Planet.
Scientists decided on seven instruments from 58 proposals the space agency received in January from researchers and engineers located all over the world, according to a NASA press release.
"While getting to and landing on Mars is hard, Curiosity was an iconic example of how our robotic scientific explorers are paving the way for humans to pioneer Mars and beyond," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, in a statement, according to the release. "Mars exploration will be this generation's legacy, and the Mars 2020 rover will be another critical step on humans' journey to the Red Planet."
Based on the design of the Mars rover Curiosity, which is currently being used by NASA on the planet, the new rover will be launched with more sophisticated and upgraded hardware.
The rover is worth approximately $130 million, and will determine if Mars will ever be habitable for humans, while also looking for signs of ancient Martian life, according to the space agency.
"The Mars 2020 rover, with these new advanced scientific instruments, including those from our international partners, holds the promise to unlock more mysteries of Mars' past as revealed in the geological record," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, according to the release. "This mission will further our search for life in the universe and also offer opportunities to advance new capabilities in exploration technology."
Scientists will use the Mars 2020 rover to identify and select a collection of rock and soil samples that will be stored for potential return to Earth by a future mission.
The mission is responsive to the science objectives recommended by the National Research Council's 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey.
"The 2020 rover will help answer questions about the Martian environment that astronauts will face and test technologies they need before landing on, exploring and returning from the Red Planet," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, according to the release. "Mars has resources needed to help sustain life, which can reduce the amount of supplies that human missions will need to carry. Better understanding the Martian dust and weather will be valuable data for planning human Mars missions. Testing ways to extract these resources and understand the environment will help make the pioneering of Mars feasible."
The selected payload proposals include:
-Mastcam-Z
-SuperCam
-Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL)
-Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC)
-The Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)
-Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA)
-The Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Exploration (RIMFAX)
Click here to read about each specific selected payload.
"We are excited that NASA's Space Technology Program is partnered with Human Exploration and the Mars 2020 Rover Team to demonstrate our abilities to harvest the Mars atmosphere and convert its abundant carbon dioxide to pure oxygen," said James Reuther, deputy associate administrator for programs for the Space Technology Mission Directorate, according to the release. "This technology demonstration will pave the way for more affordable human missions to Mars where oxygen is needed for life support and rocket propulsion."
The Mars 2020 rover is part the agency's Mars Exploration Program, which includes the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will build and manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover.
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