NASA is testing a rover that can drive faster and lift its wheels to climb obstacles
Key takeaways
- The space agency shared footage of tests with its Ernest prototype rover.
- NASA/JPL NASA's Mars rovers have accomplished a whole lot since the first one landed on the red planet in the late '90s, but even the latest members of the fleet still have plenty of limitations.
- The space agency has been testing Ernest in the Colorado Desert, exploring new approaches that could be used for future missions on Mars and the moon.
The space agency shared footage of tests with its Ernest prototype rover.
NASA/JPL NASA's Mars rovers have accomplished a whole lot since the first one landed on the red planet in the late '90s, but even the latest members of the fleet still have plenty of limitations. For one, they're very slow; Perseverance, which NASA considers a "standout," achieves a top speed of just under .1 mph on flat ground. On top of that, the rough terrain is hard on the rovers' wheels, and steep slopes with hazards like rocks and sand pose a real challenge, sometimes requiring long detours to reach certain targets. But this week, NASA showed off its progress on a prototype that boasts more advanced capabilities: the Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain, or Ernest.
The space agency has been testing Ernest in the Colorado Desert, exploring new approaches that could be used for future missions on Mars and the moon. Ernest has four wheels, in contrast to the current Mars' rovers' six, and is four feet long, though a version that would be used for an actual mission would be double the size. And, it can individually lift its wheels to step on or over obstacles. In the recent tests in the desert, the prototype drove for a total of over 37 hours across seven days, covering roughly 16 miles, according to NASA. It hit a top speed of about .6 mph.