Tag Archives: Jezero Crater

Pit crew jumps in; Mars 2020 rover gets wheels

Posted on July 12, 2019 by rburnham

Constructing an exquisitely complex vehicle like the Mars 2020 rover takes serious teamwork. On June 13, 2019, more than a dozen “bunny suit”-clad engineers rolled past another milestone in the clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet … Continue reading →

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SuperCam installed on Mars 2020 rover

Posted on July 3, 2019 by rburnham

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have installed the SuperCam Mast Unit onto the Mars 2020 rover. The instrument’s camera, laser and spectrometers can identify the chemical and mineral makeup of targets as small as a pencil … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 rover: Landing with terrain-relative navigation

Posted on July 2, 2019 by rburnham

The view of the Sea of Tranquility rising up to meet Neil Armstrong during the first astronaut landing on the Moon was not what Apollo 11 mission planners had intended. They had hoped to send the lunar module Eagle toward … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 rover gets its wheels

Posted on June 20, 2019 by rburnham

In this image, taken on June 13, 2019, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, install the starboard legs and wheels – otherwise known as the mobility suspension – on the Mars 2020 rover. They installed the port … Continue reading →

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Remote-sensing mast installed on 2020 rover

Posted on June 14, 2019 by rburnham

In this image, taken on June 5, 2019, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, take a moment after attaching the remote sensing mast to the Mars 2020 rover in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility’s High Bay 1 clean … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 rover to blaze trail for humans

Posted on June 12, 2019 by rburnham

When a female astronaut first sets foot on the Moon in 2024, the historic moment will represent a step toward another NASA first: eventually putting humans on Mars. NASA’s latest robotic mission to the Red Planet, Mars 2020, aims to … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 helicopter enters final testing phase

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Helicopter flight demonstration project has passed a number of key tests with flying colors. In 2021, the small, autonomous helicopter will be the first vehicle in history to attempt to establish the viability of heavier-than-air vehicles flying on … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 rover gets HD eyes

Posted on May 31, 2019 by rburnham

One of the first operations the Mars 2020 rover will perform after touching down on the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, will be to raise its remote sensing mast (RSM), which carries important optics and instrumentation. In … Continue reading →

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ESA: Mars on Earth — what next?

Posted on May 31, 2019 by rburnham

A Mars Sample Return campaign would bring samples of the Red Planet back to Earth for examination in the best terrestrial laboratories – but choosing the samples and storing them on Mars for later return is only one part of … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 drops in on Death Valley

Posted on May 24, 2019 by rburnham

On a test flight in Death Valley, California, an Airbus helicopter carried an engineering model of the Lander Vision System (LVS) that will help guide NASA’s next Mars mission to a safe touchdown on the Red Planet. During the flight … Continue reading →

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