[meteorite-list] Ideas Wanted for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover, But Government Shutdown Adds Challenge

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.space.com/23037-nasa-mars-rover-2020-government-shutdown.html

Ideas Wanted for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover, But Government Shutdown Adds Challenge
by Miriam Kramer
space.com
October 2, 2013

NASA needs ideas for its next Mars rover, but the government shutdown 
might delay their arrival.

The space agency has put out an open call, asking scientists to submit 
proposals for the science and technology instruments that will fly aboard 
NASA's next Mars rover expected to launch in 2020. If the government shutdown 
continues, however, the competition - called the Mars 2020 Mission 
Investigations Announcement of Opportunity (AO) - might not go forward 
as planned.

"The Mars 2020 AO may be affected in a number of ways, if the Government 
is shut down for some duration," NASA officials wrote. "The preproposal 
conference, scheduled for 10/8, may be rescheduled and the due date for 
NOIs [Notices of Intent] (currently 10/15) could be delayed, if the 
government is still shut down closer to those dates."

The newly announced proposal competition asks researchers to submit a 
mission plan detailing the hardware, mission operations, data analysis 
and other information about what they would use a rover to investigate 
on Mars. The total cost available for the investigations is about $130 
million.

NASA's Mars 2020 rover is expected to look somewhat like the space agency's 
Curiosity rover currently roaming the surface of the Red Planet, but its 
job will be different. The 2020 rover is slated to search for signs of 
past life on Mars and collect samples for an eventual return to Earth, 
NASA officials have said.

Curiosity's initial mission was focused on determining if life on Mars 
was ever possible. The rover settled that question in March when NASA 
announced that Curiosity's data shows that Mars could have supported 
primitive life in the past.

"The Mars 2020 mission will provide a unique capability to address the 
major questions of habitability and life in the solar system," Jim Green, 
director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington D.C. said 
in statement. "The science conducted by the rover's instruments also 
would expand our knowledge of Mars and provide the context needed to make 
wise decisions about whether to return any collected samples to Earth."

The 2020 rover might also help scientists pave the way for a possible 
manned mission to the Red Planet sometime in the future.

"The Mars 2020 rover will test technologies that are key to one-day 
landing human explorers on the Red Planet," Jason Crusan, director of 
NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division, said in a statement. "New 
technologies could allow astronauts to live off the land as they explore 
the ancient valleys of Mars. The capability to manufacture breathable 
air, rocket fuel, water and more may forever change how we explore 
space."