NASA unveils Mars 2020 rovers

A handout composite photo made available by NASA shows illustrations of NASA’s Curiosity (L) and Mars 2020 (R) rovers (issued 11 December 2019).

While the newest rover borrows from Curiosity’s design, each has its own role in the ongoing exploration of Mars and the search for ancient life.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is building and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. Next summer, Mars 2020 will be headed for the Red Planet.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, preparing for future exploration of Mars. Helping pave the way for humans, Curiosity carries instruments that study the Martian environment, like surface radiation and weather.

Besides studying the weather, Mars 2020 will carry spacesuit samples, allowing scientists to study how they degrade. An oxygen generator will test technology for astronauts to make their own rocket fuel from the Martian atmosphere. A subsurface radar like the one on the rover could someday be used to find buried water ice.

Via EPA-EFE/NASA/JPL-CALTECH HANDOUT