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Like everyone, most astronomers are quite curious to reveal the unknown secret about our neighboring planet Mars. Regarding this, NASA conducted several exploring missions with several orbiters, Lander, and rovers with a lot of technical instruments. Now, it's time to meet the new NASA Mars Rover.

In 1975, NASA successfully got the first image of Mars surface from Viking-1 space lander under Viking space program. Among all robotic space exploration vehicle, the rover (or sometimes planetary rover) is one of the most effective experimental vehicles for the better understanding of a planet by exploring on its surface. Most recently, NASA sent Curiosity, a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars.

New NASA Mars Rover

Recently, NASA is looking forward to a Mars rover mission by NASA's Mars Exploration Program with a planned scheduled in 2020. Before that, NASA introduced a conceptual design of a next generation Mars rover this week for the 2020 mission.

The design concept of this next-gen Mars rover is based on the futuristic motorcycle of the Hollywood movie, "Tron." Most notably, this next-gen Mars rover is not a robotic rover but designated to be operated by an onboard passenger.

Structural Design And Features Of Next-gen NASA Mars Rover:

According to CBC News, the conceptual model of next-gen Mars rover has a very distinct structural appearance, which could resemble an extraterrestrial vehicle. The six-wheeled vehicle has the length of 24 feet, with the height of 11 feet and interior space has 13 feet wide area.

The total construction and design is the brainchild of the Parker brothers, Shannon and Marc. During an interview, Mark explained that every part of the body, the chassis, the suspension, the wheels, the frame, the interior, the seats, and the glass of this vehicle had to be built completely from scratch.

The interior design of this Mars Rover closely resembles a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with four seats. However, the Parker brothers are working on the further study to improve, according to NASA's requirements.

This vehicle is designated to drive on rough terrain and easily climb over any rocky obstacle. This vehicle is also added with a distinct feature to drive smoothly on deep sand without getting stuck, per Inquisitr.

Future Planning And Application

In fact, this concept vehicle not builds for the direct mission to Mars but used as a simulation to educate future scientists about the red planet. According to astronaut Jon McBride, putting the first man or woman on Mars is closer than previous thought. He aspired that somewhere within eight to 18 years manned mission on the red planet will become a reality.