Jul 27, 2016 09:31 AM EDT By Anita Valencia, UniversityHerald Reporter

NASA confirmed that Atlas 5 rocket will take Mars 2020 to the Red Planet as part of the Mars mission

Mars 2020 rover will be launched by Atlas 5 rocket

The use of Atlas 5 rocket in Mars mission has been revealed by NASA earlier. The United Launch Alliance vehicle will bring NASA's Mars 2020 rover - the robot that will analyze the past life evidence in Red Planet for 700 days; take rocks and soils; and report back to Earth .

This means that the Atlas 5 holds NASA certification as the vehicle that will launch the 2,000 pound of nuclear-powered rover.

Mars 2020 will take rocks and soils as samples

A scientist working on Mars 2020 rover project stated that the scientific purpose of this launch is to indicate Martian past life and identify its early history.

NASA equips Mars 2020 with 6 wheels, heat shield and supersonic parachute. It is designed to land smoothly on the Red Planet's surface and operate day and night. The robot's features include stereoscopic camera to detect organic compounds, a radar to analyze subsurface, a UV laser for mineralogy, and a mic to pick the sounds of Mars, NASA wrote in its website.

Mars 2020 rover is an upgrade of Curiosity launched in 2012. The chassis is similar to Curiosity but it has been given several upgrades such as identifying the perfect landing spots and other places that Curiosity might not consider before. This allows a closer analysis of things that NASA would want to see. And hopefully, the robot can return the samples carefully and safely back to Earth.

Mars next rover is scheduled to launch in 2020 and will arrive in Mars in 2021. Previously, the space agency announced that the rover has passed the development stage and is now proceeding to the final design, Space reported. This mission reportedly costs $2.1 billion.

Here's a detail on Mars 2020 rover

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