NASA's Mars 2020 rover takes its first steps (on Earth)

A few days ago NASA's Mars 2020 rover - which has no name yet - took its first steps in the assembly hall of spacecraft at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Although this rover is practically a twin of Curiosity - in fact the reserve hardware of this one has been used to mount it - a big difference is in the wheels and the suspension system. Those of Curiosity have caused problems because it turned out that they transmitted too much pressure to the wheels in certain circumstances and these are being degraded at a much higher rate than expected.

The idea of ​​these first tests is to check that the different subsystems of the vehicle work together correctly, that the rover supports its own weight, and that autonomous navigation functions work as expected.

In early 2020 the vehicle will be sent to Cape Canaveral to prepare for its launch, scheduled for the launch window that opens on July 17. Its landing is scheduled for February 18, 2021 in the Jezero crater.

Its launch is not the only one planned for this launch window. The European Space Agency and Roscosmos are hurrying to get the Rosalind Franklin rover ready; the United Arab Emirates wants to send the Hope orbiter; and China a probe, a lander and a rover.

Of course, we will have to wait until February 2020 to know the name of the "twin" of Curiosity.