NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars'
past or present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development for a
launch opportunity in 2009. This picture is an artist's concept portraying
what the advanced rover would look like in Martian terrain, from a side
aft angle.
The arm extending from the front of the rover is designed both to position
some of the rover's instruments onto selected rocks or soil targets and
also to collect samples for analysis by other instruments. Near the base
of the arm is a sample preparation and handling system designed to grind
samples, such as rock cores or small pebbles, and distribute the material
to analytical instruments.
The mast, rising to about 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) above ground level,
supports two remote-sensing instruments: the Mast Camera for stereo color
viewing of surrounding terrain and material collected by the arm, and the
ChemCam for analyzing the types of atoms in material that laser pulses
have vaporized from rocks or soil targets up to about 9 meters (30 feet)
away.
