Once on the surface, the rover will begin to both gaze upward and dig downward., which you may have guessed is a sky-facing camera, is part of the rover’s suite of weather instruments designed to study the Martian clouds and atmosphere. On the other hand,is embedded within the rover and will watch as it collects rock samples and deposits them for later analysis.Jim Bell, principal investigator for Mars 2020’s Mastcam-Z, explained in a press release that the new rover will also have much better color and 3-D imaging capabilities than its predecessor, Curiosity.is a much more advanced version of Curiosity’s two-camera Mastcam, which served as the rover’s main eyes. The “Z” in Mastcam-Z refers to the fact that the upgraded camera has a 3x optical zoom built in. With it, Mars 2020 can take finely detailed images of the Martian surface from up to a football field away.With Mastcam-Z’s stereoscopic cameras, it can also capture more 3-D images, which are ideal for spotting potential samples or geologic features — like erosion and soil texture — from long distances. “Routinely using 3-D images at high resolution could pay off in a big way,” Bell said. “They’re useful for both long-range and near-field science targets.”That brings us to Mars 2020’s, which are built to plan out driving routes (Navcams) and avoid hazards (Hazcams). Though the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers have all had engineering cameras, they only captured 1-megapixel, black-and-white images. On the new rover, these engineering cameras will snap high-resolution color images with a whopping 20-megapixels.Furthermore, the new Enhanced Engineering Cameras will have a very wide field of view, revealing more of its surroundings so it can optimize how it spends its time. “Our previous Navcams would snap multiple pictures and stitch them together,” said Colin Mckinney, product delivery manager for the new engineering cameras. “With the wider field of view, we get the same perspective in one shot.” To further minimize downtime, the rover’s cameras will also automatically reduce motion blur, allowing it to take photos while on the move.