[meteorite-list] NASA Wants Investigations for a Mars 2020 Rover

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 10:56:21 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201309271756.r8RHuLOm022659_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-294

NASA Wants Investigations for a Mars 2020 Rover
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
September 26, 2013

NASA has released its announcement of an open competition for the
planetary community to submit proposals for the science and exploration
technology instruments that would be carried aboard the agency's next
Mars rover, scheduled for launch in July/August of 2020.

The Mars 2020 rover will explore and assess Mars as a potential habitat
for life, search for signs of past life, collect carefully selected
samples for possible future return to Earth, and demonstrate technology
for future human exploration of the Red Planet.

Officially called the Mars 2020 Mission Investigations Announcement of
Opportunity (AO), this competition solicits flight investigations for
which each principal investigator or scientist is responsible for a
complete space flight investigation, including instrument hardware,
mission operations and data analysis. The total allocated cost for
development of all the investigations selected and funded by NASA is
approximately $130 million.

The competitively selected instruments will be placed on a rover similar
to Curiosity, which landed on Mars in August 2012. Using Curiosity's
design will help minimize mission costs and risks and deliver a rover
that can accomplish the mission objectives. The Mars 2020 mission also
would build upon the scientific accomplishments of Curiosity and other
previous Mars missions.

So what is different about Mars 2020?

In January 2013, NASA appointed a Science Definition Team to outline
objectives for the Mars 2020 mission. The team, composed of 19
scientists and engineers from universities and research organizations,
proposed a mission concept that could accomplish several high-priority
planetary science goals and be a major step in meeting President Obama's
challenge to send humans to Mars in the 2030s.

According to the Science Definition Team, looking for signs of past life
is the next logical step.

"The Mars 2020 mission will provide a unique capability to address the
major questions of habitability and life in the solar system," said Jim
Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington. "The
science conducted by the rover's instruments also would expand our
knowledge of Mars and provide the context needed to make wise decisions
about whether to return any collected samples to Earth."

This rover will make measurements of mineralogy and rock chemistry down
to a microscopic scale, so that we might be able to understand the
Martian environment surrounding the rover's landing site and identify
evidence of possible past life.

The 2020 rover could also make measurements and conduct technology
demonstrations to help designers of a human expedition understand any
hazards posed by Martian dust and demonstrate how to collect carbon
dioxide, which could be a resource for making oxygen and rocket fuel.

"The Mars 2020 rover will test technologies that are key to one-day
landing human explorers on the Red Planet," said Jason Crusan, director
of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division. "New technologies could
allow astronauts to live off the land as they explore the ancient
valleys of Mars. The capability to manufacture breathable air, rocket
fuel, water and more may forever change how we explore space."

To view the Announcement of Opportunity online, visit:

http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/Mars2020 .

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

2013-294
Received on Fri 27 Sep 2013 01:56:21 PM PDT