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.
Planning for NASA’s 2020 Mars rover envisions a basic structure that capitalizes on re-using the design and engineering work done for the NASA rover Curiosity.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech