NASA's Mars 2020 rover is fitted with a LASER that vaporizes rock to search for signs of life

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Mars 2020 rover is heading to the Red Planet armed with a high-powered laser to assist in its search for fossils. The technology, called SuperCam, is fitted at the robot's mast and shoots pulses capable of vaporizing rocks from up to 20 feet away. The laser beam heats the target to 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to transform the solid rock into plasma that can be imaged by a camera for further analysis. Using this instrument will help researchers identify minerals that are beyond the reach of the rover's robotic arm or in areas too steep for the rover to go. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Mars 2020 rover is heading to the Red Planet armed with a high-powered laser to assist in its search for fossils. The technology, called SuperCam, is fitted at the robot's mast and shoots pulses capable of vaporizing rocks from up to 20 feet away NASA is set to launch the Mars 2020 rover in July with the goal of finding signs of ancient microbial life.