The Mars 2020 mission will seek the signs of ancient life on Mars and will identify, prepare, document, and cache a set of samples for possible return to Earth by a follow-on mission. Mars 2020 and its Perseverance rover thus link and further two long-held goals in planetary science: a deep search for evidence of life in a habitable extraterrestrial environment, and the return of martian samples to Earth for analysis in terrestrial laboratories. The Mars 2020 spacecraft is based on the design of the highly successful Mars Science Laboratory and its Curiosity rover, but outfitted with a sophisticated suite of new science instruments. Ground-penetrating radar will illuminate geologic structures in the shallow subsurface, while a multi-faceted weather station will document martian environmental conditions. Several instruments can be used individually or in tandem to map the color, texture, chemistry, and mineralogy of rocks and regolith at the meter scale and at the submillimeter scale. The science instruments will be used to interpret the geology of the landing site, to identify habitable paleoenvironments, to seek ancient textural, elemental, mineralogical and organic biosignatures, and to locate and characterize the most promising samples for Earth return. Once selected, ∼35 samples of rock and regolith weighing about 15 grams each will be drilled directly into ultraclean and sterile sample tubes. Perseverance will also collect blank sample tubes to monitor the evolving rover contamination environment. In addition to its scientific instruments, Perseverance hosts technology demonstrations designed to facilitate future Mars exploration. These include a device to generate oxygen gas by electrolytic decomposition of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and a small helicopter to assess performance of a rotorcraft in the thin martian atmosphere. Mars 2020 entry, descent, and landing (EDL) will use the same approach that successfully delivered Curiosity to the martian surface, but with several new features that enable the spacecraft to land at previously inaccessible landing sites. A suite of cameras and a microphone will for the first time capture the sights and sounds of EDL. Mars 2020’s landing site was chosen to maximize scientific return of the mission for astrobiology and sample return. Several billion years ago Jezero crater held a 40 km diameter, few hundred-meter-deep lake, with both an inflow and an outflow channel. A prominent delta, fine-grained lacustrine sediments, and carbonate-bearing rocks offer attractive targets for habitability and for biosignature preservation potential. In addition, a possible volcanic unit in the crater and impact megabreccia in the crater rim, along with fluvially-deposited clasts derived from the large and lithologically diverse headwaters terrain, contribute substantially to the science value of the sample cache for investigations of the history of Mars and the Solar System. Even greater diversity, including very ancient aqueously altered rocks, is accessible in a notional rover traverse that ascends out of Jezero crater and explores the surrounding Nili Planum. Mars 2020 is conceived as the first element of a multi-mission Mars Sample Return campaign. After Mars 2020 has cached the samples, a follow-on mission consisting of a fetch rover and a rocket could retrieve and package them, and then launch the package into orbit. A third mission could capture the orbiting package and return it to Earth. To facilitate the sample handoff, Perseverance could deposit its collection of filled sample tubes in one or more locations, called depots, on the planet’s surface. Alternatively, if Perseverance remains functional, it could carry some or all the samples directly to the retrieval spacecraft. The Mars 2020 mission and its Perseverance rover launched from the Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on July 30, 2020. Landing at Jezero Crater will occur on Feb 18, 2021 at about 12:30 PM Pacific Time.

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火星 2020 任务概述

火星 2020 任务将寻找火星上古代生命的迹象，并将识别、准备、记录和保存一组样本，以便后续任务可能返回地球。因此，Mars 2020 及其毅力号探测器将行星科学中的两个长期目标联系起来并进一步推进：在可居住的外星环境中深入寻找生命证据，以及将火星样本送回地球以在陆地实验室进行分析。Mars 2020 航天器基于非常成功的火星科学实验室及其好奇号火星车的设计，但配备了一套精密的新科学仪器。探地雷达将照亮浅层地下的地质结构，而多面气象站将记录火星环境条件。几种仪器可以单独使用或串联使用，以在米级和亚毫米级绘制岩石和风化层的颜色、质地、化学和矿物学。这些科学仪器将用于解释着陆点的地质，识别可居住的古环境，寻找古老的结构、元素、矿物和有机生物特征，以及定位和表征最有希望返回地球的样本。一旦选定，约 35 个岩石和风化层样品各重约 15 克，将直接钻入超洁净和无菌样品管中。Perseverance 还将收集空白样品管，以监测不断变化的漫游车污染环境。除了科学仪器外，毅力号还举办旨在促进未来火星探索的技术演示。其中包括通过电解分解大气中的二氧化碳产生氧气的装置，以及评估旋翼飞机在稀薄火星大气中的性能的小型直升机。火星 2020 进入、下降和着陆 (EDL) 将使用成功将好奇号送到火星表面的相同方法，但具有几个新功能，使航天器能够在以前无法到达的着陆点着陆。一套相机和一个麦克风将首次捕捉到 EDL 的景象和声音。选择火星 2020 的着陆点是为了最大限度地提高天体生物学和样本返回任务的科学回报。数十亿年前，杰泽罗陨石坑拥有一个直径 40 公里、深度数百米的湖泊，既有流入通道，​​也有流出通道。一个突出的三角洲、细粒湖相沉积物，和含碳酸盐岩石为宜居性和生物特征保存潜力提供了有吸引力的目标。此外，陨石坑中可能存在的火山单元和陨石坑边缘的撞击巨角砾岩，以及源自大型且岩性多样的源头地形的河流沉积碎屑，极大地提高了样本缓存的科学价值，用于调查历史火星和太阳系。更丰富的多样性，包括非常古老的水蚀变岩，可以通过从 Jezero 陨石坑上升并探索周围 Nili 平原的概念漫游车来获得。火星 2020 被认为是多任务火星样本返回活动的第一个元素。在 Mars 2020 缓存样本后，由一个取回漫游车和火箭组成的后续任务可以检索和打包它们，然后将包裹发射到轨道上。第三次任务可以捕获轨道包并将其送回地球。为了促进样品的交接，Perseverance 可以将其收集的填充样品管存放在地球表面的一个或多个位置，称为仓库。或者，如果 Perseverance 保持正常运行，它可以将部分或全部样本直接运送到检索航天器。Mars 2020 任务及其毅力号漫游车于 2020 年 7 月 30 日从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地的东部靶场发射。将于 2021 年 2 月 18 日太平洋时间下午 12:30 左右在 Jezero Crater 着陆。为了促进样品的交接，Perseverance 可以将其收集的填充样品管存放在地球表面的一个或多个位置，称为仓库。或者，如果 Perseverance 保持正常运行，它可以将部分或全部样本直接运送到检索航天器。Mars 2020 任务及其毅力号漫游车于 2020 年 7 月 30 日从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地的东部靶场发射。将于 2021 年 2 月 18 日太平洋时间下午 12:30 左右在 Jezero Crater 着陆。为了促进样品的交接，Perseverance 可以将其收集的填充样品管存放在地球表面的一个或多个位置，称为仓库。或者，如果 Perseverance 保持正常运行，它可以将部分或全部样本直接运送到检索航天器。Mars 2020 任务及其毅力号漫游车于 2020 年 7 月 30 日从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地的东部靶场发射。将于 2021 年 2 月 18 日太平洋时间下午 12:30 左右在 Jezero Crater 着陆。