The Rover can choose just 20 Martian samples for analysis back on Earth. Here’s how it will decide:

BRAINS: The computer collating the instrument data has 256MB of RAM and just 2GB of flash memory, but that’s 8x as much as Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

MASTCAM-Z: The job of these two cameras is to act in stereo as the “eyes” of the Rover. A 360° range and high magnification zoom – which could focus on a house fly from the length of a soccer pitch – will allow scientists to choose the best spots to examine more closely.

Supercam: We should all be so lucky to have a camera with a laser. The Rover fires its laser at rocks from 7m to create a “light signature” that its spectrometer can analyse for chemical traces of life (as well as any elements harmful to humans).

PIXL: PIXL’S X-ray spectrometer can then analyse the fine detail, detecting more than 20 chemical “fingerprints” of elements present at only a few parts per million.

SHERLOC & WATSON: This dynamic duo work together at close range – 5cm from a rock’s surface – the camera WATSON alongside SHERLOC’S combination of UV laser and a Deep UV and fluorescence spectrometer to collect more precise data about the presence of organic chemicals.

SAMPLE CACHING: When scientists agree on a possible life-proving rock, the Rover’s rotating drill carousel and robotic arm assistant will fill one of 43 tubes to store in the Rover’s belly. Scientists will need to choose an easyto-refind depot location at which to drop their tubes of geological treasure for later retrieval.