First look at the NASA spacecraft that will take over the March 2020 rover

An engineer inspects the completed spacecraft that will haul NASA's next rover onto the red planet, before a test in the space simulator facility of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

From top to bottom, and suspended by cables, is the complete stage of the cruise, which will feed and guide the Mars 2020 spacecraft during his seven-month trip to the Red Planet. Just below him is the aeroshell (white rear hull and barely visible black heat shield), which will protect the vehicle during the cruise and during its fiery descent into the Martian atmosphere. Not visible (as it is concealed inside the aeroshell), there is the step of descent propelled by a rocket and the surrogate rover (a substitute for the real rover, currently underway). 39, final assembly in the JPL High Bay 1 clean room).

The Mars 2020 probe was tested in a chamber 8 meters by 26 meters wide and 25 feet wide, in the same configuration where it will be during its flight into the interplanetary space. The 2020 rover contains a brand new range of instruments, including a sample caching system, which will collect samples of Mars for their return to Earth on subsequent missions. The mission will depart from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida in July 2020 and land at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021.

The picture was taken on May 9, 2019.

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