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mars 2020 rover

The Curiosity rover has been an unqualified success since the moment information technology touched down on Mars aboard a magnificent rocket sled contraption. It'south traveled farther on the red planet than any other car while delivering huge amounts of data to researchers here on World. Curiosity is suffering from camera envy today, though. NASA has unveiled the camera setup for its upcoming 2020 Mars rover. Why have a separate camera unveiling? Because at that place are 23 of them.

It's not just near having every bit many cameras as possible–each and every ane of them has a purpose, as explained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory annunciation. Many of the cameras are based on instruments that went with Curiosity to Mars, which makes sense. That rover has been so successful that the 2020 rover is shaping up to be a revamped Curiosity.

The 2020 rover will take more than pictures, with higher resolutions, and from more angles than whatsoever past rover. Information technology all starts with the landing, which will be similar to Curiosity's death-defying act back in 2012. There will be six entry, descent, and landing cameras on the rover to aid NASA record every moment of the rover's arrival. Amidst other things, these cameras will capture the offset close-upwardly images of a parachute opening over an conflicting world.

There will be a total of 9 engineering cameras for planning drives and checking the terrain. Past rovers have had small 1MP resolutions and just captured in monochrome. The 2020 rover's engineering cameras will take 20MP full-color sensors. Rather than stitching all those little images together, mission managers can snap 1 picture and see a large expanse around the rover.

Curiosity's MASTCAM has become ane of its almost famous instruments, and the 2020 rover will have an improved version called the MastCam-Z. The "Z" stands for "zoom" considering this system will be capable of 3x optical zoom. That should mean much amend images without moving the rover effectually unnecessarily. The mast is also home to the SuperCam, a college resolution version of Curiosity's ChemCam. NASA jokes the 2020 rover volition take 20/twenty vision–and hey, who says scientists don't have a humor?

The 2020 rover still lacks a name and an official launch date. NASA hopes to launch the mission in 2018 with inflow at Mars scheduled for tardily summer 2020. At that point, Marvel volition have been wandering the surface for viii years. The new mission will accept quite a legacy to live upward to. The new cameras hateful nosotros'll all have what amounts to a front end-row seat, likewise.