Scientists will debate the landing site of the next train of Mars

Hundreds of scientists and explorers of Mars are going
get together in a hotel ballroom just north of Los Angeles later this week for
present, discuss and deliberate on the future NASA Red Red landing site
Planet rover – March 2020. The three-day workshop is the fourth and last one of a
series designed to guarantee NASA the widest range of data and opinions
of the scientific community before the Agency chooses where to send the new
vagabond.

The Mars 2020 mission is not only to look for signs of habitable conditions on
Mars in the past, but also looking for signs of past microbial life. the
Landing site for March 2020 is of great interest to the planetary community
because, among the new technologies of the rover for surface exploration,
it carries a sampling system that will collect samples of rock and soil and set them aside in a "cache" on the
surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially make these
samples to the Earth. The next landing on Mars, after March 2020, could very well
well be a vehicle that would recover these samples from March 2020.

"The landing site of March 2020 could
prepare the ground for Mars exploration for the next decade, "said Thomas
Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of the Scientific Mission Directorate
Headquartered in Washington. "I look forward to the lively debate
and critical contribution of the scientific and technical community. Regardless
the landing site is finally chosen, it may contain the very first batch of Mars
soil that humans touch. "

The workshop begins with a keynote address by the person in charge
scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Michael Meyer. After project
status, technical constraints and site evaluation criteria are discussed
the presentations. Just warning: Expect a lot of technical jargon like terms like
biosignatures, geochemical conditions,
impact deformation, biogenetic
potential, lithologies of olivine, and
serpentinisation
and its astrobiological potential
scroll down the presenters' language.

"We organized these workshops to support
Selection of the landing site in 2020 since 2014, "said Matt Golombek, co-chair
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Landing Site Steering Committee
in Pasadena, California. "In our first workshop, we started with about 30
landing sites, and after additional orbital imaging and a second
from landing workshop, we recommended to eight sites to go from the front
for further evaluation. There were so many good places to choose, the
The reduction process was difficult. This time, with four finalists, he
promises to be even more difficult. Each site has its own intriguing science
potential and competent lawyers ".

Champions of four landing options will take their turn
on the podium, presenting and defending their favorite package on the red planet.
This is a site more than expected after the completion of the third
workshop, in 2017, where three sites on Mars were recommended for
Consideration – Columbia Hills, Jezero Crater and Northeast Syrtis.

"At the end of the workshop in February 2017,
there were only three sites on our radar as a potential landing for March 2020
Ken Farley, scientific leader of the Mars 2020 project at JPL. "But
in the months that followed, a proposal was put forward for a landing site in
between Jezero and Syrtis Northeast. Our goal is to reach the right website
provides the maximum science for March 2020, and this new site – dubbed "Midway"
– was considered worthy of inclusion in the discussions. "

On the last day, after the closing of all the presentations,
workshop participants will weigh the pros and cons of each site. The results of these deliberations will be communicated
to the March 2020 project, which will incorporate them into a recommendation to NASA
Headquarters in Washington, where the final selection will be made. the
The announcement of the Mars 2020 landing site is expected by the end of the year.
l & # 39; year.

"I have attended all the workshops up to now and no
disappointed in smart defense and lively debate ",
Farley said. "But that's what science is – conviction and
respectable exchange of ideas. The passion of the participants shows how much
they care a lot about the exploration of Mars. They know that they play a key role in
the process, and they know how important the landing site for March 2020 will be
be."

March 2020 will be launched on an Atlas V of United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Space Launch Complex 41 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base
Florida in July 2020. It should reach Mars in February 2021.

The rover will perform geological assessments of his landing
site on Mars, determine the livability of the environment, look for signs
of ancient Martian life, and evaluate natural resources and dangers for the future
human explorers. Scientists will use the instruments on board the rover to
identify and collect samples of rock and soil, enclose them in sealed tubes and
leave them on the surface of the planet for a potential return to Earth in the future
Mars Mission.

the
The Mars 2020 project at JPL in Pasadena, California, manages the development of rovers for
the leadership of the science mission at NASA headquarters in Washington. From NASA
Launch Services Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center of the Florida office,
is responsible for launch management.

For
More information on the workshop, go to:

https://marsnext.jpl.nasa.gov/workshops/wkshp_2018_10.cfm

For
information on how to listen to the workshop presentations, go to:

https://ac.arc.nasa.gov/landing-site-workshop/

For
more information on March 2020, go to:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/