Aerospace & Defense

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NASA's 2020 Mars Rover Mission Goals

The rover NASA will send to Mars in 2020 should look for signs of past life, collect samples for possible future return to Earth, and demonstrate technology for future human exploration. The Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, which NASA appointed in January to outline scientific objectives for the mission, is composed of 19 scientists and engineers from universities and research organizations. They 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. "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. "This mission represents a major step towards creating high-value sampling and interrogation methods, as part of a broader strategy for sample returns by planetary missions."