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Mars Ascent Vehicle Deploying Sample Container in Orbit (Artist's Concept)
As part of a Mars sample return mission, a rocket will carry a container of sample tubes with Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars and release it for pick up by another spacecraft.
February 10, 2020
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Mars Sample Return Lander With Solar Panels Deployed (Artist's Concept)
This illustration of a Mars sample return mission's lander concept shows a spacecraft after touchdown on the Red Planet.
February 10, 2020
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Mars Ascent Vehicle Launching with Samples (Artist's Concept)
This illustration shows a concept of how the NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle, carrying tubes containing rock and soil samples, could be launched from the surface of Mars in one step of the Mars sample return mission.
February 10, 2020
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Robotic Arm Transferring Tubes From Fetch Rover to Lander (Artist's Concept)
In this illustration of a Mars sample return mission concept, a robotic arm transfers samples of Martian rock and soil from a fetch rover onto a lander.
February 10, 2020
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Mars Sample Return Lander Touchdown (Artist's Concept)
In this illustration of a Mars sample return mission concept, a lander carrying a fetch rover touches down on the surface of Mars.
February 10, 2020
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Fetch Rover Approaching Sample Tubes (Artist's Concept)
This illustration shows a concept of what a rover fetching rock and soil samples on Mars for return to Earth could look like.
February 10, 2020
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Mars 2020 With Sample Tubes (Artist's Concept)
NASA's Mars 2020 rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future missions to retrieve, as seen in this illustration.
February 10, 2020
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Mars 2020 Collecting Sample (Artist's Concept)
In this illustration, NASA's Mars 2020 rover uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars.
February 10, 2020
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SuperCam's Mast Unit Being Tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Mast Unit for Mars 2020's SuperCam, shown being tested here, will use a laser to vaporize and study rock material on the Red Planet's surface.
February 7, 2020
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Mars 2020's Aeroshell
The heat shield (left) and back shell (right) that comprise the aeroshell for NASA's Mars 2020 mission are depicted in this image.
January 27, 2020
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No Echoes for Supercam Microphone
The amount and quality of sound received by a copy of SuperCam's microphone was measured in an anechoic chamber, designed to dampen soundwaves that reflect, or bounce off other surfaces.
January 21, 2020
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PIXL's Sensor Head
PIXL's sensor head before being integrated with the robotic arm at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
January 15, 2020
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Mars 2020 Spin Table Activities in PHSF
Tests to measure the center of gravity and moments of inertia for the Mars 2020 rover aeroshell are performed on the spin table inside Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Jan. 15, 2020.
January 15, 2020
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Mars 2020 Lift Activities in PHSF
Mars 2020 Lift Activities in Payload Hazardous Serviceing Facility (PHSF) at the Kennedy Space Center.
January 14, 2020
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Media Meet NASA's Mars 2020 Rover and Builders
A member of the media interviews mission team member Jessica Samuels inside JPL’s High Bay 1 clean room on Dec. 27, 2019, during Mars 2020 media day.
December 27, 2019
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Media Meet NASA's Mars 2020 Rover and Builders
During their only opportunity to see NASA's next Mars rover from inside JPL's clean room prior to its shipment to Cape Canaveral, members of the media interview the builders of the Mars 2020 mission.
December 27, 2019
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Spirit and Opportunity in High Bay 1
High Bay 1 looks much as it does today in this photo of NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers being tested on Feb. 10, 2003.
December 23, 2019
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High Bay 1 in JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility
The High Bay 1 clean room within the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL is seen in this image taken on Nov. 12, 2019. The Mars 2020 rover is visible just above center.
December 23, 2019
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First Drive Test of NASA's Mars 2020 Rover
On Dec. 17, 2019, engineers took NASA’s next Mars rover for its first spin.
December 19, 2019
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Mars 2020 Rover Is Roving
In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers observed the first driving test for NASA's Mars 2020 rover on Dec. 17, 2019.
December 18, 2019
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Mars 2020 Makes Tracks for the Red Planet in the Mars Yard
An engineering model of NASA's Mars 2020 rover makes tracks during a driving test in the Mars Yard, an area that simulates Mars-like conditions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
December 17, 2019
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Side-by-Side: Curiosity and Mars 2020
Illustrations of NASA's Curiosity and Mars 2020 rovers. While the newest rover borrows from Curiosity's design, each has its own role in the ongoing exploration of Mars and the search for ancient life.
December 10, 2019
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Some Differences Between Mars 2020 and Curiosity
NASA's Mars 2020 rover looks virtually the same as Curiosity, but there are a number of differences.
December 10, 2019
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Power for Mars 2020
Power for Mars 2020 The electricity needed to operate NASA's Mars 2020 rover (pictured here) is provided by a power system called a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. Not pictured in this image, the MMRTG will be placed in the aft of the rover.
November 21, 2019
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Twelve and Twenty
(Left) Apollo 12 astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. stands beside NASA's Surveyor 3 spacecraft; the lunar module Intrepid can be seen in the distance. (Right) Mars 2020 rover, seen here in an artist's concept, will make history's most accurate landing on a planetary body when it lands at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.
November 20, 2019
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Researching Outback Stromatolites
Scientists from NASA's Mars 2020 and ESA's ExoMars projects study stromatolites, the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth, in the Pilbara region of North West Australia. The image was taken on Aug. 19, 2019.
November 15, 2019
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Jezero Crater's Ancient Lakeshore
Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touching down on Mars.
November 12, 2019
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Jezero Crater Minerals
Color has been added to highlight minerals in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The green color represents minerals called carbonates, which are especially good at preserving fossilized life on Earth.
November 12, 2019
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MEDA Reaches Out Into the Wind
MEDA's Wind Sensor 2 seems to be practicing its deployment as if already on Mars.
November 7, 2019
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MEDA is Ready, Weather or Not
The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) collects atmospheric measurements that will provide a regular weather report from Jezero Crater on Mars.
November 7, 2019
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NASA's Mars 2020 Rover in Test Chamber
In this time-lapse video taken at JPL, engineers move the Mars 2020 rover into a large vacuum chamber for testing in Mars-like environmental conditions.
November 7, 2019
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A Light Touch Required for NASA's Mars 2020 Rover
An engineer working on NASA's Mars 2020 mission uses a solar intensity probe to measure and compare the amount of artificial sunlight that reaches different portions of the rover.
October 30, 2019
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That's One Small Step for a Mars Rover
This time-lapse video, taken on Oct. 8, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, captures the first time the Mars 2020 rover carries its full weight on its legs and wheels.
October 24, 2019
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Mars 2020 Unwrapped and Ready for Testing
In time-lapse video bunny-suited engineers remove the inner layer of protective foil on NASA's Mars 2020 rover after it was moved to a different building at JPL for testing.
October 18, 2019
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NASA Mars 2020 Rover Separation Test
Engineers and technicians working on the Mars 2020 spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, look on as a crane lifts the rocket-powered descent stage away from the rover after a test.
October 4, 2019
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Send Your Name to Mars With Brad Pitt
The actor Brad Pitt (right) shows off his "boarding pass" for Mars with Jennifer Trosper (left), the Mars 2020 project systems engineer, at JPL on Sept. 6, 2019. You can send your name to Mars aboard NASA's Mars 2020 rover at go.nasa.gov/mars2020pass until Sept. 30, 2019.
September 18, 2019
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Rover Rotisserie
Speeded up 28 times, this time-lapse shows NASA's Mars 2020 rover on a spin table at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Aug. 29, 2019. Engineers were looking to establish the rover's center of gravity, or the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides.
September 12, 2019
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Building NASA's Mars 2020 Rover
See NASA’s next Mars rover quite literally coming together inside a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
August 28, 2019
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Mars Helicopter Installed on Mars 2020 Rover
Engineers attached NASA's Mars Helicopter to the belly of the Mars 2020 rover on Aug. 27, 2019, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
August 28, 2019
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Clues for Mars in the Australian Outback
Scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 mission and the European-Russian ExoMars mission traveled to the Australian Outback to hone their research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet in the summer of 2020 to search for signs of ancient life on Mars.
August 23, 2019
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A Little Bit Carousel Higher
In this image, taken on Aug. 5, 2019, engineers at NASA's JPL lift the Mars 2020 rover's bit carousel from its storage container. The bit carousel is at the heart of the rover's Sample Caching System.
August 15, 2019
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Cache and Carry
In this August 5, 2019 image, the bit carousel - the heart of sampling and caching subsystem of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission - is attached to the front end of the rover.
August 15, 2019
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Sample Return Firsts
From left to right: Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the Moon; 47 pounds (21.5 kilograms) of samples were brought back to Earth from that mission; the Mars 2020 rover, seen here in an artist's concept rover, will be taking the first planetary samples at Jezero Crater, Mars (on right).
August 13, 2019
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Mars 2020 Rover on Stand
This image of NASA's Mars 2020 rover was taken on July 23, 2019 in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
August 6, 2019
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Mars Helicopter Arrives in Clean Room
Members from NASA's Mars Helicopter and Mars 2020 teams stand behind the Mars Helicopter.
August 6, 2019
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The Tippy Top of Mars 2020
This image, taken in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 23, 2019, shows a close-up of the head of Mars 2020's remote sensing mast.
August 5, 2019
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A Clean Room With a View
The Mars 2020 rover undergoes an "eye" exam after several cameras were installed. The rover carries everything from wide-angle landscape cameras to narrow-angle high-resolution zoom lens cameras. The image was taken on July 23, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
August 5, 2019
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Testing Perseverance's Vision
In this image, engineers test cameras on the top of the mast and front chassis of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The image was taken on July 23, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
August 5, 2019
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An Eye Chart for Mars 2020
Engineer Chris Chatellier stands next to a target board with 1,600 dots. The board was one of several used on July 23, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to calibrate the forward-facing cameras on the Mars 2020 rover.
August 5, 2019
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NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Robotic Arm Is on the Move
In this image, taken July 19, 2019, in the clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL, the rover's 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm maneuvers its 88-pound (40-kilogram) sensor-laden turret as it moves from a deployed to a stowed configuration.
July 26, 2019
