NASA's Next Mars Rover Will Look For Past Life
2020 Mars Rover Click here to see this amazing image even larger. NASA/JPL-Caltech It'll store and collect samples to (hopefully) one day return to Earth. NASA's next Mars rover mission, set for 2020, will search for signs of ancient life, according to a new report from the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, a NASA-appointed group tasked with outlining the mission's scientific goals. The team calls this the "next logical step" in looking for signs of life on the planet, building on the discoveries made by the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity missions. The new rover's payload of scientific instruments will be selected through a competition, and include a drill to extract cores from rocks (rather than the powder the rover Curiosity extracts) and collect samples for a possible return to Earth in the future, though the methods for such a return haven't yet been worked out. The rover itself will likely be...