NASA Announces New Robotic Rover for Mars



By Brett Davis

Although NASA’s plan to return to Mars with robots was given up for dead not long ago, the aerospace agency has now announced that its rover Curiosity will get some company on the red planet starting in 2020.

NASA plans to launch a new rover based on the technology in the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which carried the Curiosity rover to the planet’s surface this summer. That will help keep costs down, NASA says.

NASA had pulled out of the joint European ExoMars program earlier this year, citing budget concerns and prompting fears that its commitment to Mars exploration was waning. 

“The Obama administration is committed to a robust Mars exploration program," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a press release. “With this next mission, we’re ensuring America remains the world leader in the exploration of the Red Planet, while taking another significant step toward sending humans there in the 2030s.”

The new rover fits into NASA’s five-year budget plan released earlier this year, Bolden said, although it’s contingent on future funding from Congress. The scientific payload and instruments for the new rover will be openly competed.