NASA installs the Mars 2020 Rover HD Eyes

NASA's Curiosity rover has been a resounding success since landing on Mars in 2012. So it's no surprise that the upcoming March 2020 rover will use a very similar design. The team is mounting the rover, which is scheduled for launch in July 2020, and has just received two of its most important components: the Mastcam-Z cameras. These high-definition, zoom-capable cameras will allow NASA to study the Martian landscape and produce photos that will undoubtedly amaze everyone here on Earth.

In the image above, you can see the team members reinstall the cache on the Remote Sensing Mast (RSM) after mounting the cameras. The RSM hosts many instruments and cameras, as on Curiosity. One might think that this is the "head" of the rover. The rover will have 23 cameras in total.

The SuperCam is a large red lens cover, a system of lasers and spectrometers to analyze the chemical composition of rocks. It is an improved version of the Curiosity ChemCam. Directly to the south of it is one of the two Mastcam-Z units of the rover. The other is partially obscured by the support equipment in the foreground. The covers of both Mastcam-Z modules are labeled "remove before flight".

Together, the two Mastcam-Z 1600 × 1200 units will be able to take 3D color images of the Martian landscape. These cameras share much with Curiosity's Mastcam cameras, including body design, detectors, and firmware. However, they have included the 3.6: 1 optical zoom capability. The Mastcam-Z system has a resolution of 0.8mm per pixel just in front of the mobile and 38mm per pixel at 100m. NASA hopes that this will facilitate the team's driving and sample collection activities compared to Curiosity.

Image: NASA

NASA is currently planning a landing on Mars on February 21, 2021. This rover will be the first spacecraft in the history of planetary exploration capable of automatically analyzing and retargeting its landing. It will also deploy the very first vehicle flying on another planet, the Mars Helicopter Scout. March 2020 is expected to last a Martian year, but if it's the same for Curiosity, it will last much longer. Even after stopping the mobile, it can still contribute to science by storing samples in a special module for later collection by a still unplanned sample return mission.

Now read: