The main focus is on 8 potential sites, but only 3-4 locations will be explored during the next mission to the Red Planet.
The younger brother of the Curiosity machine takes the next step, deciding on the future landing site. This week in Monrovia (California) is scheduled for three days to select specific locations. The live broadcast will be available from Wednesday to Friday.
Mars 2020 is another step towards finding habitats for ancient Martian life. Rover can also leave taynichki, which then take away the following missions to check the impact on their environment.
“The mission of Mars 2020 is aimed at exploring places for signs of past life, as well as replenishment of samples, which should convince that the planet has the necessary resources for the functioning of human missions. It will also allow to test technologies that will be used in the future, ”- written on the website of the organizers.
“Of course, the most important thing is to determine the landing point,” they write further. - “At the meeting we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of the applicants, as well as identify weaknesses and have some potential. Thus, we will leave 3-4 participants for further discussion. ” It is recommended to focus on the “long-term perspective” when making a decision, since science is focused not only on the rover itself, but also on the potential importance of the samples. Therefore, the committee has made several criteria.
Landing Mars 2020 will repeat the Curiosity (NASA) procedure
Criteria:
- Astrobiologically relevant ancient environment.
- Ability to return samples of stone and regolith for an attempt to make fundamental scientific discoveries in the event of a return to Earth.
- The conviction that a place meets the first two criteria.
- The conviction that they are available for study.
- The site may have water resources for use by future missions.
“At the end we will apply all the criteria for assessing the place and collect the results by interviewing those present”.
The eight candidates to be considered include: Colombian Hills, Eberswalde Crater, Holden, Jezero Crater, Mawrth Vallis Valley, Southwest Part of the Melas Canyon, Northeast Syrtis and Nili Fossae.
