Mars 2020
The atmosphere on Mars is mostly carbon dioxide and extremely thin (about 100 times less dense than Earth's), with no breathable oxygen, NASA said on Friday.
"The landscape is freezing, with no protection from the Sun's radiation or from passing dust storms. The keys to survival will be technology, research and testing," NASA added.
‘Mars 2020’ Mission has been launched to look for ancient life on the Red Planet. The robotic mission to Mars aims to help future astronauts brave that inhospitable landscape.
The rover will be the first spacecraft to collect samples of the Martian surface, caching them in tubes that could be returned to Earth on a future mission, NASA further said, in an article 'NASA's Mars 2020 Will Blaze a Trail — for Humans'.
In the detailed article, NASA has enlisted the various aspects the mission will work on -- water, spacesuits, shelter, touchdown and oxygen.
"Landing a rover like this one also gives NASA more experience putting a heavy spacecraft on the surface of Mars; the challenge of landing in the thin Martian atmosphere scales with mass. The first crewed spacecraft will be titanic by comparison, carrying with it life support systems, supplies and shielding," NASA added, in the article.
