NASA's nextMars rover has passed its first driving test. A preliminary assessment of itsactivities on Dec. 17, 2019, found that the rover checked all the necessaryboxes as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The next time the Mars 2020rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.

"Mars 2020has earned its driver's license," said Rich Rieber, the lead mobilitysystems engineer for Mars 2020. "The test unambiguously proved that therover can operate under its own weight and demonstrated many of the autonomous-navigationfunctions for the first time. This is a major milestone for Mars 2020."

On Dec. 17, 2019, engineers took NASA's next Mars rover for its first spin. The test took place in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This was the first drive test for the new rover, which will move to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the beginning of next year to prepare for its launch to Mars in the summer. Engineers are checking that all the systems are working together properly, the rover can operate under its own weight, and the rover can demonstrate many of its autonomous navigation functions. The launch window for Mars 2020 opens on July 17, 2020. The rover will land at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

Scheduled to launchin July or August 2020, the Mars 2020 mission will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize Mars' climate andgeology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for humanexploration of the Red Planet. It is scheduled to land in an area of Mars knownas Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

"Tofulfill the mission's ambitious science goals, we need the Mars 2020 rover tocover a lot of ground," said Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 deputy projectscientist.

Mars 2020 isdesigned to make more driving decisions for itself than any previous rover. Itis equipped with higher-resolution, wide-field-of-view color navigation cameras,an extra computer "brain" for processing images and making maps, andmore sophisticated auto-navigation software. It also has wheels that have been redesigned for added durability.

All theseupgrades allow the rover to average about 650 feet (200 meters) per Martianday. To put that into perspective, the longest drive in a single Martian daywas 702 feet (214 meters), a record set by NASA's Opportunity rover. Mars 2020 isdesigned to average the current planetwide record drive distance.

In a 10-plus-hourmarathon on Tuesday that demonstrated all the systems working in concert, therover steered, turned and drove in 3-foot (1-meter) increments over small rampscovered with special static-control mats. Since these systems performed well underEarth's gravity, engineers expect them to perform well under Mars' gravity,which is only three-eighthsas strong. The rover was also able to gatherdata with the Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX).

"A roverneeds to rove, and Mars 2020 did that yesterday," said John McNamee, Mars2020 project manager. "We can't wait to put some red Martian dirt under itswheels."

JPLis building and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for NASA. NASA'sLaunch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida,is responsible for launch management.

Mars 2020 is part of a larger program that includes missionsto the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish asustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans.

Formore information about the mission, go to:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

News Media Contact

Jia-Rui CookJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-354-0724jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

Alana JohnsonNASA Headquarters, Washington202-358-1501alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

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NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Completes Its First Drive - Jet Propulsion Laboratory