NASA Experts Chose Curiosity Scientific Instruments for the Heir

The project to create a rover, which should replace the Curiosity, is carried out for a long time. In particular, for several months, NASA has accepted proposals for installing various scientific instruments on a new device. Specialists from different countries offered their own versions of such tools, which should perform a certain range of research functions on Mars.

A total of 58 proposals were sent, of which NASA experts chose 7. Some of these tools can help get an answer to the question of whether Mars has enough resources to support colonists on the Red Planet. In addition, the scientific tools of the next-generation rover (and the new rover is created based on Curiosity) will help answer another pressing question: did life exist on Mars before.
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And, finally, the rover will try to detect potentially dangerous conditions / factors that could threaten the life or health of the colonists on Mars.

Among other tools is to provide a stereo camera Mastcam-Z, which can receive panoramic and stereoscopic images with good resolution. Another tool, SuperCam, will determine the chemical and mineral composition of rocks, while another tool, Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), will determine the elemental composition of the surface minerals of Mars.

The Scanning Habitable Environments Spectrometer with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) will attempt to detect organic components using ultraviolet radiation. Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) will release oxygen from carbon dioxide.

The last but one instrument of Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) will monitor the environmental conditions of Mars, and the seventh tool, Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Exploration (RIMFAX) will show what is under the surface of Mars.



The development of equipment requires a round sum of 130 million US dollars. Mars 2020 itself will be similar to its forerunner, Curiosity, but differ from a relative by a set of scientific tools and some other features (for example, a landing system).

Via nasa