NASA is all set to carry out it’s next Mars Rover Mission which will take place in 2020. Following this, NASA has built a new unnamed rover vehicle for this mission. The rover will search for the sign of historical microbial in the areas of Mars. To achieve these, the rover will be equipped with cutting-edge science instruments. It will seek out biosignatures on a microbial scale which is an X-ray spectrometer which can target spots as small as a grain of table salt. An ultraviolet laser will detect the “glow” from excited rings of carbon atoms. The rover will have a ground-penetrating radar, it is the first instrument to look under the surface of Mars, which can map layers of rock, water, and ice up to 30 feet but that depends upon the material.
The rover will be the successor of the 2012 Curiosity rover. The new rover has seven new upgraded instruments and has newly designed wheels. It also has color cameras, zoom lens, and a laser to vaporize rocks and soil. By this, it can analyze their chemical compounds.
This new hardware is being developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, which manages the mission for the agency. It includes the Mars 2020 mission’s cruise stage, which will fly the rover through space, and the descent stage, a rocket-powered “sky crane” that will lower it to the planet’s surface. Both of these stages have recently moved into JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility.
“The fact that so much of the hardware has already been designed — or even already exists — is a major advantage for this mission,” said Jim Watzin, director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. “It saves us money, time and most of all reduces risk.”
As per the report, it will drill around 20 rocks or maybe 30 to 40 rocks. Till now NASA has been conducted seven successful landing on Mars.
