2020 Mars rover could help bring back a piece of the Red Planet - NBCNews.com (blog)

Mars Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News Facebook Share on Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email 1 hour ago NASA / JPL-Caltech The planning for NASA's 2020 Mars rover envisages a basic structure that capitalizes on the design and engineering work already done for the Curiosity rover, but with new science instruments. The team in charge of defining the mission for NASA's next Mars rover says the Curiosity-like machine could set the stage for bringing back fresh samples of the Red Planet in the 2020s. The goal came to light in a report issued by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team on Tuesday. Such a sample return mission has been on NASA's agenda for more than a decade, but it has always lost out due to the technical challenges and limited budgets. Multi-mission plan The rover due for launch in 2020 would perform only the first step in a multi-mission plan, as envisioned by the science definition team: The six-wheeled machine could gather as many as 31 samples of rock and soil, and cache them in a place for potential pickup by a later mission. The samples would be launched into Martian orbit, and then another robotic probe would bring them to Earth for study. The team said the 2020 rover, which has not yet been formally named, should target "a site on Mars that likely was once habitable" and look for the chemical signatures of past life. It should also collect "critical data needed to plan for eventual human missions to the Martian surface." The current plan for human exploration calls for trips to Mars and its moons to begin in the 2030s. "Crafting the science and exploration goals is a crucial milestone in preparing for our next major Mars mission," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said in a news release. "The objectives determined by NASA with the input from this team will become the basis later this year for soliciting proposals to provide instruments to be part of the science payload on this exciting step in Mars exploration." Based on Curiosity The 2020 rover would be based on the design used for NASA's nuclear-powered Curiosity rover, which was delivered to the Red Planet using an innovative sky-crane system. Curiosity's Mars Science Laboratory mission cost $2.5 billion, but NASA says the 2020 rover's mission could be done for $1.5 billion because of the savings on design and parts. Funding is a major concern for NASA's Mars exploration program: Last year, the space agency had to make drastic reductions in its contribution to the European-led Exomars effort due to budgetary restraints. Between now and 2020, NASA is planning two smaller-scale missions to Mars: the $670 million Mars MAVEN orbiter, which is due for launch this fall to study changes in the Red Planet's atmosphere; and the $425 million InSight lander, which would go to Mars in 2016 to study its deep interior. The science definition team's report was discussed at a media teleconference starting at 3 p.m. ET Tuesday. Participants include: John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters Jack Mustard, the team's chair and professor of geological sciences, Brown University Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a member of the team and director of the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Audio of the teleconference is being streamed live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio. The teleconference and graphics is being streamed on the Web at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2. More about the 2020 rover from NASA: ZIP file for science definition team's report Graphics and video for Mars teleconference FAQ about the Mars rover plan More about NASA's Mars plans: NASA plans 2020 Mars rover remake Experts want samples from next Mars rover NBC News archive on Mars Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. Tags: Space, Mars, Curiosity, 2020 rover, NASA via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGTy_AHOpVHIY9dnXhqrZjHqjdbgw&url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/2020-mars-rover-could-help-bring-back-piece-red-planet-6C10578731

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