NASA unveiled its plan to retrieve the first ever samples from Mars

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December 8, 2017 2:56 PM

NASA's Mars 2020 rover is bringing us one step closer to retrieving the first Mars samples.

NASA has unveiled its plan for its next Mars rover, "Mars 2020," which will collect samples from the surface of the red planet. Following is a transcript of the video.

Since landing Viking 1 on Mars in 1975, NASA has successfully put 7 rovers on Mars. But there's still one major mission left: Send a sample from Mars back to Earth.

NASA is taking a huge step toward that goal in 2020 with its "Mars 2020" rover. The Mars 2020 comes with some major upgrades. Its radar can search for water or ice 30 feet below the surface. It has an ultraviolet laser that can read carbon atoms to see if they could've been left by ancient carbon-based life.

It can also drill into solid rock to retrieve samples. These samples are critical to NASA's plan. The rover will accumulate a collection of samples. A future mission will pick them up and launch them back to Earth. So, any potential life that the Mars 2020 rover may miss could be found in labs here on Earth.

NASA has narrowed the landing site down to 3 possible locations. Each spot once had environments which could have harbored life. The rover will launch in the summer of 2020 and touch down February 2021.

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