Mars rover
hideA Mars rover is a spacecraft which propels itself across the surface of Mars after landing.
Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control.
Their advantages over orbiting spacecraft are that they can make observations to a microscopic level and can conduct physical experimentation. Disadvantages of rovers compared to orbiters are the higher chance of failure, due to landing and other risks, and that they are limited to a small area around a landing site which itself is only approximately anticipated.
There have been three successful Mars rovers, all of which were robotically operated. (There have also been two successful non-Martian robotic rovers: in the 1970s the USSR sent two Lunokhod rovers to the Moon.)
For more information about Mars rover, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with mars rovers
Further Tests Designed for Rover's Right-Rear Wheel
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A series of diagnostic tests on Spirit's right-rear wheel on sols 2104 and 2105 (Dec. 3 and 4) investigated stalls that occurred on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28) and earlier. The rover team cannot draw ...
Rover Spirit: Another Stall of Right-Rear Wheel Ends Drive
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 02, 2009 |
2.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Spirit's right-rear wheel stalled again on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28, 2009) during the first step of a two-step extrication maneuver.
Mars Odyssey Orbiter Puts Itself Into Safe Standby
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a safe standby mode on Saturday, Nov. 28, and the team operating the spacecraft has begun implementing careful steps designed to resume Odyssey's ...
Amnesia-Like Behavior Returns on Spirit
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 31, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Until Oct. 24, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover had gone more than six months without an episode of amnesia-like symptoms like those that appeared on four occasions earlier this year.
A Mars Rover Named 'Curiosity'
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 30, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (18) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- If you found your grandmother's diary, tattered and dust covered, up in the attic, would you read it? Of course you would. Granny was a pistol! Brush off the dust, open up the little book, ...
Spirit Rover: Computer Modeling Supplements Dusty Testing
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 15, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Tests on Earth simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars have reinforced understanding that getting Spirit to rove again will be very difficult.
Planned Rover Test to Run a Week or More
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mars rover team members are planning a long-duration experiment with the test rover at JPL beginning next week. This test will check whether favorable motion seen in earlier tests can be sustained ...
Meteorite Found on Mars Yields Clues About Planet's Past
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (11) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is investigating a metallic meteorite the size of a large watermelon that is providing researchers more details about the Red Planet's environmental history. ...
Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 31, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
Mars rover engineers at JPL are winding down testing of different escape maneuvers using a test rover in a sand box filled with soil to mimic the Martian surface. It is possible that in early August the first ...
Free Spirit: Longer Rover Tests Beginning
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 27, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mars rover team members have begun a new phase of testing at JPL -- using longer-duration experiments -- in their preparations for driving Spirit again on Mars.
Free Spirit: Next Step: Combinations of Basic Moves
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 22, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
As the Mars rover team uses testing at JPL to evaluate possible ways to drive Spirit out of loose soil on Mars, the team is finishing tests of individual "building block" maneuvers and is about to begin stringing ...
Test Mars Rover Checks Pivoting Technique
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
The Mars rover team is using a test rover at JPL to assess various extraction techniques that might get Spirit out of the loose soil of "Troy" on Mars.
Rover Extraction Tests Begin (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 07, 2009 |
2 / 5 (1) |
0
Using a test rover in a sandbox at JPL with special soil simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars, engineers are assessing possible maneuvers for getting Spirit out and onto firmer ground.
Not space junk yet: Mars rovers carry on despite age, ailments
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 28, 2009 |
5 / 5 (15) |
4
In one of the most remarkable engineering feats of our time, the aging Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still taking orders and sending home pictures more than five years after they were supposed to ...
New cleaning protocol for future 'search for life' missions
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 08, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
0
Scientists have developed a new cleaning protocol for space hardware, such as the scoops of Mars rovers, which could be used on future "Search for Life" missions on other planets.
