In 2020, NASA plans to send a rover to Mars to collect and store tubes of rock and dirt. The plutonium-powered vehicle will have seven instruments and may also carry a helicopter.
RIMFAX
A ground - penetrating radar to explore beneath the surface.
A plutonium power source supplies electricity to the rover.
SUPERCAM
A laser blaster that can investigate chemical compositions of Martian rocks and dirt from a distance.
HELICOPTER
The rover may carry a helicopter that would fly through the thin atmosphere and scout out the path ahead.
MASTCAM - Z
A zoomable panoramic camera.
MEDA
The rover's weather station, to measure temperature, wind speed and other meteorological factors.
SHERLOC
An ultraviolet spectrometer to study mineralogy and chemistry. (Its camera is named WATSON.)
MOXIE
An instrument to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere? As a test for creating resources for future astronauts.
ROBOTIC ARM
The rover arm can extend outwards to make scientific measurements and gather samples. Its instruments can study? In detail, an area about the size of a postage stamp.
