Testing autonomous software for ExoMars 2020 Today’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency features the ExoMars Testing Rover (ExoTeR), which is a smaller version of the actual spacecraft.
The ExoTeR carefully navigated the rocky and sandy terrain of the Planetary Utilisation Testbed at the ESA’s Planetary Robotics Laboratory in the Netherlands.
The scientists tested out autonomous navigation software that was developed for the ExoMars 2020 mission. As shown above the testing autonomous software for ExoMars 2020 shows the different features set for that testing and mission.
The ExoTeR will now return to Altec in Italy, where the rover control team can gain experience with the updated software before ExoMars is launched. A half-scale version. Also as seen manoeuvring itself carefully through the red rocks and sand of 9×9 m Planetary Utilisation Testbed, part of ESA’s Planetary Robotics Laboratory in its ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, as a test of autonomous navigation software destined for ESA mission. The rover will drive to multiple locations and drill down to two metres below the surface of Mars in search of clues for past life preserved underground.
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
Video Credit: European Space Agency