Earth_Magazine_October_2017

efforts from a variety of space agencies around the
world — and possibly a private corporation for the
first time — some with prior experience in Mars
exploration and some without.
The exact timing for each launch, and the
sequence in which they’ll go, are not yet set. Indeed,
whether they will all be ready in time for the win-
dow — which, at less than three years away, is not
far off on the timescales of interplanetary mission
development — isn’t clear. Regardless, the group of
missions targeting a summer 2020 departure rep-
resents a growing and increasingly diverse interest
in interplanetary space exploration. With many
eyes looking toward future programs to return sam-
ples from Mars — and, ultimately, to send humans
there — this proliferation of interest and expertise,
together with specific technical innovations designed
into some of the would-be 2020 missions, may shape
the trajectory of Mars exploration in the decades
to come.

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The group of missions slated to launch in 2020,

some of which involve multiple components,

includes at least two rovers (with as many as four

possible), up to four stationary surface landers and

three orbiters.

The two best publicized missions are NASA’s

2020 Rover and the joint European Space Agency

(ESA)/Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) ExoMars

2020. Each features a six-wheeled mobile science lab

designed to image, collect and analyze rocks and soils

while also running atmospheric and environmental

studies. The design — and anticipated delivery via

skycrane — of NASA’s upcoming rover largely dupli-

cates that of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL),

aka Curiosity, although it will be equipped with

new navigational tools to aid in entry, descent and

landing as well as an updated suite of instruments.

ExoMars 2020 is the second half of the two-part

ExoMars program and follows the successful delivery

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