Mars 2020 Mission to Mars: Collecting Samples for Possible Return
- Paper number
IAC-17,A3,3A,6,x40762
- Year
2017
- Abstract
In the year 2020 the next major expedition to the Martian surface will begin. The Mars 2020 mission will rely a heritage rover design, from the successful Mars Curiosity mission and head to Mars to choose and acquire 30+ samples of martian rock and regolith of potential return to earth by a future mission. These samples will be acquired and sealed to a level of cleanliness that has never been previously achieved. As such, the Mars 2020 mission stands as the first leg of a potential and scientifically important Mars Sample Return program. This paper gives an overview of the design and development of the Mars 2020 rover, its landing system, with a focus on the sampling and caching system and issues of sample cleanliness.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)