Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 rover will characterize a region of Mars that could have once been favorable for life. It will investigate the geological history of the site, assess the possibility of past life, and search for biosignatures. The rover is equipped with a drill and will also collect a sample suite that will be cached along the traverse for a possible return to Earth by a future mission. It will have two instruments on an arm that will study the chemistry and mineralogy of rocks, two instruments on a mast for high resolution imaging and spectroscopy, an atmospheric science package, and a radar to map subsurface stratigraphy.