[meteorite-list] NASA Receives Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Proposals for Evaluation

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:01:12 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201401212101.s0LL1CBj019512_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

January 21, 2014

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov
     
RELEASE 14-023
     
NASA Receives Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Proposals for Evaluation

NASA has received 58 proposals for science and exploration technology
instruments to fly aboard the agency's next Mars rover in 2020, twice the
usual number submitted for instrument competitions in the recent past, and an
indicator of the extraordinary interest in exploration of the Red Planet.

The agency is beginning a thorough review to determine the best combination
of science and exploration technology investigations for the mission and
anticipates making final selections in the next five months.

"Proposal writing for science missions is extremely difficult and time
consuming. We truly appreciate this overwhelming response by the worldwide
science and technical community and are humbled by the support and enthusiasm
for this unique mission," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator
for science in Washington. "We fully expect to be able to select an
instrument suite that will return exciting science and advance space
exploration at Mars."

NASA opened competition for Mars 2020 research proposals in September and
closed it January 15. Several NASA facilities, academia, industry, research
laboratories, and other government agencies submitted proposals. Seventeen
proposals came from international partners.

The Mars 2020 mission is designed to accomplish several high-priority
planetary science goals and will be an important step toward meeting
President Obama's challenge to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. The mission
will conduct geological assessments of the rover's landing site, determine
the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian
life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers.

The science instruments aboard the rover also will enable scientists to
identify and select a collection of rock and soil samples that will be stored
for potential return to Earth in the future. This will achieve one of the
highest-priority objectives recommended by the National Research Council's
2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Analysis of such samples in
laboratories here on Earth will help determine whether life existed on Mars
and help inform planning for human exploration missions to the planet.

The rover also may help designers of a human expedition understand the
hazards posed by Martian dust and demonstrate how to collect carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, which could be a valuable resource for producing oxygen
and rocket fuel.

"NASA robotic missions are pioneering a path for human exploration of Mars in
the 2030s," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for
human exploration and operations in Washington. "The Mars 2020 rover mission
presents new opportunities to learn how future human explorers could use
natural resources available on the surface of the Red Planet. An ability to
live off the land could reduce costs and engineering challenges posed by Mars
exploration."

The instruments developed from the selected proposals will be placed on a
rover similar to Curiosity that has been exploring Mars since 2012. Using a
proven landing system and rover chassis design to deliver these new
experiments to Mars will ensure mission costs and risks are minimized as much
as possible while still delivering a highly capable rover.

The 2020 mission will build on the achievements of Curiosity and other Mars
missions, and offer opportunities to deploy new capabilities developed
through investments by NASA's Space Technology Program, Human Exploration and
Operations Mission Directorate, and contributions from international
partners.

"New and more advanced space technologies are essential for future human
expeditions to the Red Planet," said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate
administrator for space technology. "These technologies will enable the life
support and transportation resources needed for future astronauts to live and
work on Mars."

The Mars 2020 rover will join the agency's robust Mars Exploration Program,
which includes the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers, the Odyssey and Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft currently orbiting Mars, and the MAVEN
orbiter, recently sent to study the Martian upper atmosphere. In 2016, a Mars
lander mission called InSight will launch to take the first look into the
deep interior of Mars. The agency also is participating in the European Space
Agency's (ESA's) 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing
"Electra" telecommunication radios to ESA's 2016 orbiter and a critical
element of the premier astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover.

For more information about NASA's Mars programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars

-end-
Received on Tue 21 Jan 2014 04:01:12 PM PST