NASA lift vehicle. The Space Launch System is intended to launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and other elements towards the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and one day Mars. The Orion MPCV conducted an unmanned test launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is currently scheduled to launch in May 2020. On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the rover "Curiosity" on Mars. On August 27, 2012, "Curiosity" transmitted the first pre-recorded message from the surface of Mars back to Earth, made by Administrator Charlie Bolden: NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars
Mars 2020 Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission by NASA's Mars Exploration Program with a planned launch in July or August 2020. It will investigate an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars, investigate its surface geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability, the possibility of past life on Mars, and the potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials. It will cache sample containers along its route for a potential future Mars sample-return mission. The as-yet unnamed "Mars 2020" mission was announced by NASA on 4 December 2012 at the fall meeting of the