Rumors about a big discovery circulated after chief Curiosity scientist John Grotzinger was quoted by NPR as saying that a rover instrument responsible for detecting organic compounds had recently gathered data "for the history books".
In her work with NASA, Douglas has tested the Mars rovers' instruments on Badwater samples, to see how well they detect the biosignatures.
The rovers' instruments and power supply would be suspended in the centre of the structure.A partner team at NASA's Ames Research Centre is developing structurally compliant rovers they call Super Ball Bots (one of which is pictured).
The rover's instruments will also search for salt crusts probably left by water evaporation or conglomerate rocks, which are a mix of many different minerals brought together usually in flowing water.
At a NASA news conference on Friday, scientists reported that the Mars rover's instruments had seen no signs of methane, which, had it been there, would have signaled that there might currently be methane-exhaling microorganisms on Mars that are similar to those found on Earth.
The rover has instruments on a mast that can survey the surroundings and assess potential sampling targets from a distance.
NASA's Curiosity rover has instruments capable of detecting similar fossils in Martian rocks, according to U.S. News.
It's official: The Mars 2020 rover's instruments have been chosen, and they include a super-laser and stereo vision!
Dr. Steven W. Squyres of Cornell, the mission's chief scientist, said that tests of most of the rover's science instruments had been completed and that all appeared to have survived the vibrations of the braking rockets and the bouncing, rolling touchdown late Saturday night.
At the Jeffrey Mine, testing was conducted over 4 days using a modified off-the-shelf Pioneer rover and scientific instruments including Raman spectrometer, Picarro methane detector, hyperspectral point spectrometer and electromagnetic induction sounder for testing rock and gas samples.
For example, even if Curiosity were able to motor over to one of the briny splashes seen from space, the rover lacks the instruments to detect life — native or imported.
