Nichols Martin
Thales Group has developed a laser technology for integration into a rover that NASA aims to send to Mars sometime in 2020.
The company said Monday it delivered the SuperCam instrument to France’s national space agency, which signed a partnership agreement with NASA in June 2015 for the Mars 2020 lander mission.
SuperCam is based on the ChemCam laser currently installed on the Curiosity rover.
Thales noted that SuperCam laser will use a non-destructive Raman spectroscopy tool designed to analyze energies emitted from molecular vibration in efforts to detect possible forms of life on the red planet.
The Mars 2020 rover project is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.
