NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover, Will Hunt for Signs of Alien Life, Produce Oxygen from Mars Atmosphere

NASA has Announced that, the Next Mars Rover — Currently Codenamed "Mars 2020" — will be Outfitted with an Array of Sophisticated, Upgraded Scientific Instruments that, will Let it Delve Deeper and Farther than Curiosity, with the Hope that, it will be Able to Uncover Signs of Life on Mars. Perhaps Even More Excitingly, "Mars 2020" will also be Equipped with a New Instrument that Can Convert the Carbon Dioxide in Mars’ Atmosphere into Oxygen — this is of Utmost Importance if Humanity Ever Colonizes Mars — and Another Instrument that will Gather and Store Martian Rock Samples for Eventual Return to Earth. If you Haven’t Followed the "Mars 2020" Story, I Suggest you Read our Original Story Detailing the Scientific Scope of the Mission. In Short, though, the "Mars 2020" Rover — which is Targeting a 2020 Launch Date — will Look Almost Identical to Curiosity and will Land on Mars in the Same Crazy-Sky-Crane Way. The Idea is to Reduce R&D Costs and Capitalize on the Massive Success of Curiosity by Using Most of the Same Framework — but Landing in a Different Spot and Equipping the Rover with Better / Different Instrumentation. At a Press Conference at its Headquarters in Washington DC, NASA Announced the 7 Scientific Instruments that “Won” a Place on the "Mars 2020" Rover, Beating Out 51 Other Proposals. To be Honest, Most of the 7 Instruments are just Upgraded Versions of What’s Currently on Curiosity — Higher Resolution Cameras, More Detailed X-Ray Imaging, etc.




There are 2 Instruments that Stand Out, though:


MOXIE


The "Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment" (MOXIE) will Produce Oxygen from the Martian Atmosphere, which is Predominantly Carbon Dioxide (CO2). ISRU Stands for “in-situ resource utilization” — a Concept that, to Feasibly Explore and Colonize Other Planets, we Must be Able to Manufacture or Harvest Important Materials (Water, Oxygen, Food) from Other Planets, Rather than Shipping Everything from Earth. If MOXIE Can Produce Oxygen on Mars, that Oxygen could then be Used as Fuel to Get a Spacecraft Back to Earth — a Much, Much Cheaper and Safer Option than Trying to Land a Spacecraft that’s still Loaded with Enough Fuel for the Return Journey. MOXIE will Attempt to Produce about 20 Grams of Oxygen per Hour for around 50 Hours, probably Using the Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reaction (CO2 + H2 -> CO + H20) and then Electrolysis of the Resulting Water to Produce Oxygen. This Method will Require a Small Amount of Hydrogen to be Shipped from Earth to Fuel the Reaction but, this is a Lot Lighter than the Alternative of Shipping Lots of Oxygen.


RIMFAX


The "Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Exploration" (RIMFAX) is a Ground-Penetrating Radar that Can Provide Centimeter-Scale Imaging of the (Hopefully) Interesting Geological Features below the Martian Surface, such as Groundwater… or Massive Microbial Colonies. We Don’t Yet Have Any Numbers on How Deep RIMFAX Can Penetrate but, Presumably it’ll be at least a Couple of Feet. Other Notable Features of the "Mars 2020" Rover include: a New Drill that Can Dig Deeper (Where Microbes could still be Living Today), a UV Laser Spetrometer (Amusingly Called, SHERLOC) and a Very-High-Res SuperCam. Finally, the "Mars 2020" Rover will also Have the Ability to Store Up to 30 Martian Rock and Soil Samples that Could Eventually be Returned to Earth for Analysis. There’s No Word on How these Samples will Get Back to Earth but, Presumably it would Involve a Manned Mission to Mars (NASA has Indicated that, it would Like to Put Humans on Mars by 2035). While "Mars 2020" will Have Some Capabilities that Allow it to Look for Signs of Life, our Tools here on Earth are Much Better Suited to the Task. All Told, the "Mars 2020" Rover is a Very Exciting Prospect Indeed. NASA’s Inclusion of MOXIE and the Sample-Return Cache Indicate that, the Space Agency is Taking Manned Visits to the Red Planet Rather Seriously. In the Shorter Term, "Mars 2020" Could Tell us Definitively if Life has Ever Lived on Mars — and Potentially, Whether Life is still Living below the Martian Surface.