NASA Mars 2020 Rover Will Pack High-Definition Color Cameras On Board

NASA in its latest Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) press release confirmed that its Mars 2020 rover will carry the first color camera with zooming capabilities, allowing for 3D images that will help the rover drive and observe the surface of the Red Planet.

What The Mission

The Mars 2020 rover will touch down planet's Jezero Crater of February 18, 2021, and the first thing it will do is to raise its remote sensing mast (RSM), which carries important optics and instrumentation.

The engineers working on the project have installed two Mastcam-Z high-definition cameras and reattached the cover to the RSM head in a clean room at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility in JPL. The RSM and its twin cameras will be placed on the rover's deck soon.

What's A Mastcam-Z

The Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging instrument that will amplify the rover's driving and core-sampling skills. It will also allow team members to observe details related to textural, mineralogical, structural and morphologic aspects of the rocks. This will allow astronomers to understand the geological history of the planet, according to the JPL release.

"Mastcam-Z will be the first Mars color camera that can zoom, enabling 3D images at unprecedented resolution," said Mastcam-Z Principal Investigator Jim Bell.

Get Your Name Engraved Of Mars 2020

Besides, the space agency has asked the people to register their names, which will be stenciled on chips and sent to the Red Planet with the Mars 2020 rover. People who wish to send their names to Mars can get a souvenir boarding pass and their names engraved on chips to be affixed to the rover, NASA confirmed. The last for submitted the names on September 30, 2019.

"It's an exciting time for NASA, as we embark on this voyage to answer profound questions about our neighboring planet and even the origins of life itself," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Mars 2020 will embark on its journey in July 2020 and will be the first spacecraft in the history to be able to accurately retarget its point of touchdown during the landing sequence.