A prototype of two remote-controlled Mars rovers due for launch in 2003 has passed its final field tests in the desert in northern Arizona.
NASA鈥檚 Field Integrated Design and Operations (FIDO) robot is a smaller, stripped-down model of the Mars Exploration Rovers 鈥� two identical robots that will explore the surface of Mars after touching down in January 2004.
The rovers will have much greater mobility than the 1997 Pathfinder, and travel as far in one Martian day as the Pathfinder did in its lifetime.
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The Arizona test was designed to simulate communication between controllers and the real rovers. Engineer鈥檚 at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, sent commands to the robot each morning via a satellite link and received photographs and sample analysis at the end of each day.
鈥淚t went very well 鈥� I was very pleased with the performance of the vehicle,鈥� JPL robotics researcher Eric Baumgartner told New 杏吧原创. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good practise in understanding what is ahead of us.鈥�
Rock analysis
Communications between JPL and the real Martian rovers will pass through NASA鈥檚 Deep Space Network, an international series of ground-based antennas used to control space exploration and astronomy missions.
The twin rovers will be able to travel 100 metres per day. They will be fitted with cameras and spectrometers capable of surveying nearby terrain. Five other on-board instruments will analyse rocks and soil.
Before the Mars Exploration Rovers are launched, Baumgartner says one will probably also be remotely tested.
