Mars 2020 rover: How NASA will look for life with a shoestring budget ( video)

The next NASA Mars rover boasts an important mission – finding traces of previous life – but it has a budget about 1 billion less than its predecessor, Curiosity. Despite the limited cash flow, NASA intends to improve various aspects of the new rover, including its robotic arms and landing mechanisms. Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems announced Monday it had been awarded a contract to build these new parts for the budget rover, marking the 13th time SNC has supplied equipment and parts for a mission that will reach the red planet. "Sierra Nevada has been a terrific partner on our planetary robotic missions for a long time now," said Matt Wallace, Mars 2020 deputy project manager, in a phone interview with The Christian Science Monitor. "They were the obvious first choice."