Take a look around the “Mars Yard” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California from on board the Scarecrow rover, a full-sized replica of the Curiosity rover currently on Mars.
By testing Scarecrow’s mobility on different types of terrain here on Earth, scientists can determine if it is safe for Curiosity to investigate different areas on the red planet.
The replica is also used as a mobility double for the Mars 2020 rover currently being developed to look for signs of microbial life and to investigate the Martian environment to prepare for human exploration.
Originally published by Cosmos as Ride along with a rover in the Mars Yard
Vishnu Varma R Vejayan
Vishnu Varma R Vejayan is a physics student from Queen Mary University of London with an interest in scientific writing and research in physics. He interned at Cosmos in early 2017.
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