12 votes

A look at the differences between the Curiosity rover and Mars 2020, which will start exploring Mars' Jezero Crater for signs of life in 2021

3 comments

  1. balooga
    Link
    It's astonishing to me that this design — with its greebly complexity and exposed wires, spindly snaggy parts, and square corners — is rugged enough to send on a prolonged extraterrestrial...

    It's astonishing to me that this design — with its greebly complexity and exposed wires, spindly snaggy parts, and square corners — is rugged enough to send on a prolonged extraterrestrial mission. I would really expect something that looks more tanklike, with lots of rubber bumpers along the edges and maybe some big inflated monster truck tires. This doesn't look like a machine that can handle the unexpected, to my layperson eyes.

    I'm sure a large reason for that involves weight and fuel costs, and I'm sure it's a great and effective design. There's a reason I'm not on the engineering team for this thing.

    2 votes
  2. [2]
    Eylrid
    Link
    Mars 2020 will launch in July of next year. It will arrive in February of 2021.

    Mars 2020 will launch in July of next year. It will arrive in February of 2021.

    4 votes
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      Whoops, thanks. Updated the title.

      Whoops, thanks. Updated the title.

      3 votes