JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Mars
.

Mars 2020 Rover: T-Minus One Year and Counting

Jul 17, 2019
Engineers at JPL install a sensor-filled turret on the end of the rover's seven-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) robotic arm. The image was taken on July 11, 2019.
Engineers at JPL install a sensor-filled turret on the end of the rover's seven-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) robotic arm. The image was taken on July 11, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Full Image Details

The launch period for NASA's next rover, Mars 2020, opens exactly one year from today, July 17, 2020, and extends through Aug. 5, 2020.

The launch period for NASA's Mars 2020 rover opens exactly one year from today, July 17, 2020, and extends through Aug. 5, 2020. The mission will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and land at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

"Back when we started this project in 2013, we came up with a timeline to chart mission progress," said John McNamee, Mars 2020 project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "That every single major spacecraft component on a project with this level of innovation is synching right now with that timeline is a testament to the innovation and perseverance of a great team."

In this image, taken on July 11, 2019, engineers at JPL install a sensor-filled turret on the end of the rover's 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) robotic arm. The rover's turret includes HD cameras, the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) science instrument, the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), and a percussive drill and coring mechanism.

On Mars, the arm and turret will work together, allowing the rover to work as a human geologist would: by reaching out to interesting geologic features, scraping, analyzing and even collecting them for further study via Mars 2020's Sample Caching System, which includes 17 motors and will collect samples of Martian rock and soil that will be returned to Earth by a future mission.

JPL is building and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington. NASA will use Mars 2020 and other missions, including to the Moon, to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. The agency intends to establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans.

If you want to send your name to Mars with NASA's 2020 mission, you can do so until Sept. 30, 2019. Add your name to the list and obtain a souvenir boarding pass to Mars here:

https://go.nasa.gov/Mars2020Pass

For more information about the mission, go to:

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

http://mars.nasa.gov

News Media Contact

DC Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-9011

agle@jpl.nasa.gov

2019-147

Related News

Mars .

Testing Proves Its Worth With Successful Mars Parachute Deployment

Mars .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Gives High-Definition Panoramic View of Landing Site

Mars .

NASA to Reveal New Video, Images From Mars Perseverance Rover

Mars .

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet

Mars .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Sends Sneak Peek of Mars Landing

Mars .

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Reports In

Mars .

Touchdown! NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Safely Lands on Red Planet

Mars .

Searching for Life in NASA’s Perseverance Mars Samples

Mars .

NASA’s Next Mars Rover Is Ready for the Most Precise Landing Yet

Mars .

The Mars Relay Network Connects Us to NASA’s Martian Explorers

Explore More

Image .

Crater Dunes

Topic .

Mars

Image .

Black and White: Smoke Plume from Perseverance's Descent Stage

Image .

Mastcam-Z's First 360-Degree Panorama

Image .

Halley Crater Dunes

Image .

Mars Decoder Ring

Image .

Angustus Labyrinthus - Inca City

Image .

Close-Up of Perseverance Parachute on the Martian Surface

Image .

Close-Up of Perseverance Heat Shield on the Martian Surface

Image .

Close-Up of Perseverance Descent Stage on the Martian Surface

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors of JPL
JPL History
Documentary Series
Virtual Tour
Annual Reports
Missions
All
Current
Past
Future
News
All
Earth
Mars
Solar System
Universe
Technology
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Infographics
Engage
JPL and the Community
Lecture Series
Public Tours
Events
Team Competitions
JPL Speakers Bureau
Topics
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Stars and Galaxies
Exoplanets
Technology
JPL Life
For Media
Contacts and Information
Press Kits
More
Asteroid Watch
Robotics at JPL
Subscribe to Newsletter
Universe Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Manager: Veronica McGregor
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Randal Jackson, Naomi Hartono