Topics on the docket at this year’s Paris Air Show extend beyond Earth’s atmosphere to include the solar system. During meetings this week, Charles Bolden, administrator for NASA, signed agreements with two European partners to advance exploration of Mars.

Bolden and Jean-Yves Le Gall, president, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, signed an agreement for France to provide the mast for the SuperCam component of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover.

SuperCam is similar to the ChemCam on the Curiosity rover, which is currently traversing the surface of Mars. ChemCam analyzes rocks and soil to identify samples for analysis by other instruments onboard Curiosity. SuperCam will have significantly enhanced capabilities including four scientific instruments capable of detecting biosignatures — indicators of the past presence of life — and identify samples for collection and possible return to Earth.

“I’m delighted that our long-time partners CNES will join us on the next step in our journey to Mars,” Bolden said. “We’re paving the way for humans to visit the Red Planet and working to answer one of the key questions for all humanity: Has there ever been life elsewhere?”

Bolden also signed an agreement that extends cooperation with Spain on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, the NASA InSight mission that will launch next year to study the core of Mars, and the Mars 2020 rover.