Red Planet Rover

NASA's next generation Mars rover will feature some fancy new instruments to take Red Planet to greater heights.

The Mars 2020 Rover will carry seven new high-tech tools, it was announced Thursday; these instruments were selected from 58 proposals submitted to NASA.

Among the tools is MOXIE (Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment), a machine that will generate oxygen from the carbon dioxide found in Mars' atmosphere.

"It's extremely useful for future production of rocket fuel, or for when humans explore Mars," Mars Exploration Project lead scientist Michael Meyer told Gizmodo. "It's a real step forward in helping future human exploration of Mars, being able to produce oxygen on the surface of Mars." (Source: The Discovery Channel)