NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover Earns Its Driver’s License

In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers observed the first driving test for the Mars 2020 rover (via NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover has passed its first (and last) driving test.

Rolling and pirouetting around a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory this week, the spacecraft checked all of the engineering boxes.

The next time it drives will be on Martian soil.

“Mars 2020 has earned its driver’s license,” Rich Rieber, lead mobility systems engineer, said in a statement.

“The test unambiguously proved that the rover can operate under its own weight and demonstrated many of the autonomous navigation functions for the first time,” he continued. “This is a major milestone for Mars 2020.”

Scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station next July, the rover will land at Jezero Crater in February 2021, ready to explore Martian geology and collect samples for return to Earth.

“To fulfill the missions’ ambitious science goals, we need the Mars 2020 rover to cover a lot of ground,” according to deputy project scientist Katie Stack Morgan.

Designed to make independent driving decisions, the rover is equipped with high-resolution, wide-field-of-view color cameras, an extra computer “brain” for processing images and making maps, and sophisticated auto-navigation software.

Plus, its wheels were remodeled for added durability.

In a 10-plus-hour marathon on Tuesday, the rover steered, turned, and drove in short increments, performing well under Earth’s gravity—which is stronger than Mars’.

“A rover needs to rove, and Mars 2020 did that [on Tuesday],” project manager John McNamee said. “We can’t wait to put some red Martian dirt under its wheels.”

NASA is also busy with Artemis lunar exploration plans, expected to establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. The agency hopes to use what it learns on Earth’s satellite to prepare to send astronauts to the Red Planet.

More on Geek.com:

• NASA Attaches Helicopter to Mars 2020 Rover
• NASA Tests Mars 2020 Rover Prototype at Icelandic Lava Field
• Watch: Mars 2020 Rover Flexes Mechanical Arm

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