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The Mars 2020 Rover is taking shape at JPL

July 25th, 2016

The exploration of Mars by rovers has greatly contributed to our knowledge of the red planet.

Before human footsteps come more rover tracks, however, and NASA has a new rover on the horizon.

Mars rover track

Earlier this month, NASA announced that the Mars 2020 rover is now in the phase of final design and construction. This is known as Phase C. The final phase, Phase D, is when the system will be assembled, tested and launched!

What will this new rover teach us about Mars? Why is it important as a precursor mission to humans landing on Mars?

The Mars 2020 mission will study the habitability of Mars, meaning that it will look for an environment that could support past or present microbial life by examining rock samples.

The mission will collect and store samples of rock and soil, store them in tubes and then leave them at specific locations. The idea is that possible future missions would retrieve these samples and return them to Earth.

Finally, it will prepare for future human missions by demonstrating technologies that will make use of resources on Mars for life support and fuel. It will study the resources of Mars in terms of both their usability and how abundant they are for use in future human missions. The mission will also observe environmental conditions.

All of these objectives tie directly into the goals of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. What is the ultimate goal? To find evidence of life on Mars in the history the planet.

To build upon the success of Curiosity, the most recent rover which continues to be operational after the successful completion of its prime mission in 2014, the Mars 2020 rover will be built on the same framework and will look very similar to Curiosity. This will lower the risk and cost of the new rover.

Mars 2020 rover model

The sky crane system for landing that was used for Curiosity will also be used for the new rover, but a new technique for landing that is much more precise will be utilized. It’s called “Range Trigger,” and means that the time when the parachute will open depends on the spacecraft’s distance from its desired landing target. Another new improvement is called Terrain-Relative Navigation. This will make it possible for the rover to change direction before it touches the ground in case it needs to avoid dangerous terrain.

There spacecraft will also take video and sound recordings of the entry, descent and landing.

This exciting vehicle of scientific discovery will launch in 2020. The mission is managed by JPL for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.

Learn more about the new rover at NASA.gov.

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