Javier Laserna has been appointed as co-investigator of the SuperCam team by the Mars 2020 Project Science Group. According to NASA, “the Mars 2020 rover mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The Mars 2020 mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself.” Together with a group of Spain’s institutions leaded by University of Valladolid (Prof. F. Rull), the University of Málaga will be in charge of assessing the SuperCam calibration target. The University of the Basque Country (Prof. Juan Manuel Madariaga) and the Complutense University (Prof. V. García-Baonza) will also participate in the effort. The UMALASERLAB will be also part of the mission science team in charge of evaluating and interpreting the data received from the rover.

For more information, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/supercam/team-members/