Blueprints for 2020 Mars rover. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL
Don't be fooled. While these blueprints look a lot like the Curiosity rover now roaming the Red Planet, they actually depict NASA's new and improved version set to launch in 2020. The rover doesn't have a name yet, but NASA revealed its plans for the jacked-up version of the vehicle yesterday, and it sounds pretty darn cool.
NASA plans to rely on Curiosity's basic design for the framework of the next generation rover, but will upgrade it with a suite of fancy new scientific instruments. The team of astrobiologists, geologists and engineers planning the project are in the process of figuring out which tools to attach. While the technology will build upon the findings from previous rovers (Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity), the new rover's instruments will offer unprecedented methods of data collection and analysis, such as zooming in on sediment samples ...
