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Engineers Take NASA's Mars 2020 Rover for First Test Drive

In December, 2019, engineers in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory  demonstrated that all of the Mars 2020 rover systems were working together. The rover steered, turned, and drove in 3-foot increments over small ramps. The next time the Mars 2020 rover drives, it will be doing so over Martian soil. Scheduled to launch in July or August 2020, the Mars 2020 mission will characterize the planet's climate and geology and collect samples, search for signs of past microbial life, and pave the way for human exploration. It is scheduled to land in February 2021. Compared to previous rovers, the Mars 2020 rover is more autonomous. It's equipped with higher-resolution, wide-field-of-view color navigation cameras, an extra computer for processing images and making maps, and more sophisticated auto-navigation software.

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    Transcript

    00:00:01 First Test Drive of NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Engineers took NASA's next Mars rover for its first spin. The test took place at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the rover was built. Other Mars 2020 team members watched from above. The rover is scheduled to launch in summer 2020 And arrive at Mars on Feb. 18, 2021 Explore Moon to Mars [NASA logo]