Nasa's 2020 Mars rover will collect and store rock samples for possible return to Earth paving the way for a manned mission Mars 2020 will collect up to 31 rock and soil samples from the red planet and will look for signs of extraterrestrial life The new rover will use the same landing system as Curiosity and share its frame, which has saved Nasa $1 billion The mission will bring the sapec agency a step closer to meeting President Obama's challenge to send humans to Mars in the next decade Nasa's next Mars rover has been given a mission to find signs of past life and to collect and store rock from the the red planet that will one day be sent back to Earth. It will demonstrate technology for a human exploration of the planet and look for signs of life. The space agency has revealed what the rover, known as Mars 2020, will look like. Nasa's next Mars rover (plans pictured) has been given a mission to find signs of past life and to collect and store rock from the the red planet that will one day be sent back to Earth. Mars 2020 will also demonstrate technology for a human exploration of the planet It will share the body of Nasa's Curiosity Rover, which is currently searching for life on Mars and beginning the journey to its final destination. The new rover will use the same landing system as Curiosity, which used a ground-breaking chassis and 'sky crane' to arrive on Mars in one piece. It will also use some of the current robot's spare parts to save time on the new design as well as money. Mars 2020 is estimated to cost a princely $1.5 billion - one billion less than its predecessor Curiosity. The new design, which will collect rock samples, marks the next major step in fulfilling President Obama's challenge of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington, said: 'Crafting the science and exploration goals is a crucial milestone in preparing for our next major Mars mission.' The 2020 mission plans on building on the accomplishments of Curiosity and other Mars missions. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers, along with several orbiters, found evidence Mars has a watery history. Curiosity recently confirmed that past environmental conditions on Mars could have supported living microbes. According to the Science Definition Team, looking for signs of past life is the next logical step. The rover will use its instruments for visual, mineralogical and chemical analysis down to microscopic scale to understand the environment around its landing site. It will also identify biosignatures or features in the rocks and soil that could have been formed biologically. Jack Mustard, chairman of the Science Definition Team and a professor of geological sciences at Brown University in Providence, said: 'The Mars 2020 mission concept does not presume that life ever existed on Mars.' However, given the recent Curiosity findings, past Martian life seems possible and we should begin the difficult endeavor of seeking the signs of life. No matter what we learn, we would make significant progress in understanding the circumstances of early life existing on Earth and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. There are plans for the next rover to collect and package as many as 31 samples of rock cores and soil with the intention of a later mission picking them up bringing them back to Earth for more definitive analysis in laboratories. In a bid to save time and money, the Mars 2020 rover will share the body of Nasa's Curiosity Rover (a model is pictured) which is currently searching for life on Mars and beginning the journey to its final destination. The new rover will use the same landing system as Curiosity, which used a ground-breaking chassis and 'sky crane' to arrive on Mars in one piece The science conducted by the rover's instruments aims to expand our knowledge of Mars and provide the context needed to make wise decisions about whether to return the samples to Earth. Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington, said: 'The Mars 2020 mission will provide a unique capability to address the major questions of habitability and life in the solar system.' This mission represents a major step towards creating high-value sampling and interrogation methods, as part of a broader strategy for sample returns by planetary missions. Samples collected and analyzed by the rover will help inform future human exploration missions to Mars. The rover could make measurements and technology demonstrations to help designers of a human expedition understand any hazards posed by Martian dust and demonstrate how to collect carbon dioxide, which could be a resource for making oxygen and rocket fuel. Improved precision landing technology that enhances the scientific value of robotic missions also will be critical for eventual human exploration on the surface, Nasa said. Mars Curiosity landed on Mars on 6 August last year Scientists at Nasa guided the three tonnes of rover to the planet's surface at at speed of around 12,000mph before it landed softly Speaking at a Royal Academy of Engineering lecture last year, Dr Charles Elachi, director of NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that navigating the rover to Mars, some 450 million kilometres away, to within 80m of the planet's atmosphere, is challenging The accuracy with which we have to point, to be at the right angle and the right location, is equivalent to me being in LA and hitting a golf ball to St Andrews here in the UK - and the ball landing in a cup that is moving at around 60,000mph, because Mars is moving. Scientists will hope to replicate Curiosity's successful landing with Mars 2020 Curiosity acts as a robotic chemist with a powerful laser to zap rocks and analyse the vapour as well as a drill to examine samples. Mars 2020 will have further capabilities to collect, package and store up to 31 rock samples. Dr Elachi described returning a rock sample from Mars to Earth as Nasa's highest priority of the decade - now probably next decade'