Mars rover
Red planet explorer
A Mars rover is one of the robotic vehicles NASA has landed on Mars to explore its surface—notably Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance.
These wheeled robots traverse Martian terrain, drilling into rocks, analyzing soil composition, and transmitting photographs back to Earth.
The Mars rover Curiosity has been operating since 2012.
The term often appears in news coverage of space exploration and scientific discoveries about the Red Planet. (Lowercase mars rover can refer generically to any planetary rover.)
Massive Martian shield volcano
- regolithFragmented covering over bedrock
- Martian soilGround on the red planet
- PhobosMars's largest moon
- DeimosMars's outer satellite
dust storm · iron oxide · polar ice caps · Martian atmosphere · planetary science · astrobiology · extraterrestrial · solar system
Mars surface laboratory
- PerseveranceSustained effort despite difficulty
- VikingMedieval Nordic raider
- NASAFederal space exploration bureau
- ESAContinental space organization
Having round rollers attached
- articulationClear vocal expression
- locomotionAbility to travel independently
- mobilityCapacity for movement
- robotic armMotorized jointed machine appendage
actuators · mechatronics · servomechanism · mast · chassis · suspension · drill · turret
Operating without human control
- machine learningAlgorithms that improve from data
- decision-makingProcess of choosing actions
- real-time processingComputation without perceptible delay
- unmannedHaving no human aboard
Measures electromagnetic radiation properties
- cameraImage capturing device
- laserConcentrated light device
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- imagingProducing visual representations
Olympus Mons
Massive Martian shield volcano
- regolithFragmented covering over bedrock
- Martian soilGround on the red planet
- PhobosMars's largest moon
Deimos · dust storm · iron oxide · polar ice caps · Martian atmosphere · planetary science · astrobiology · extraterrestrial · solar system · cosmic radiation
Curiosity
Mars surface laboratory
- PerseveranceSustained effort despite difficulty
- VikingMedieval Nordic raider
- NASAFederal space exploration bureau
ESA · Rosalind Franklin · mission control · sol · traverse
wheeled
Having round rollers attached
- articulationClear vocal expression
- locomotionAbility to travel independently
- mobilityCapacity for movement
robotic arm · actuators · mechatronics · servomechanism · mast · chassis · suspension · drill · turret
self-driving
Operating without human control
- machine learningAlgorithms that improve from data
- decision-makingProcess of choosing actions
- real-time processingComputation without perceptible delay
spectrometer
Measures electromagnetic radiation properties
- cameraImage capturing device
- laserConcentrated light device
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- robotsrobot, android, humanoid, droid, automaton
- Big ScienceCERN, Large Hadron Collider, LHC, particle accelerator, synchrotron
- spacespace, sun, moon, stars, star
- NASAApollo, Artemis, astronauts, Cape Canaveral, Hubble
- space explorationrockets, Saturn V, satellites, mission, Falcon Heavy
- spacecraftspacecraft, starships, spaceship, Voyager 1, rocket ships
Mars roverlunar lander
Craft for touching down elsewhere
lunar rover · Cassini · Rosetta · deep space probe · New Horizons