Mars through the eyes of a robot
Updated on 25 September 2009
Scientists and optics experts have chosen a quarry in Bedfordshire to carry out special eye tests on Europe's prototype Mars rover.
If you're going to send a robot to a seemingly barren planet looking for signs of life, you need it to have a sharp pair of eyes. Not just to see evidence of alien biology that could be no bigger than bacteria, but also, to stop you falling off things.
Mars - at its closest - is 35 million miles away. Radio signals take 20 minutes or more to arrive. A rover could easily fall into a crater before you get a chance to tell it to stop - unless the rover sees it coming first.
That's why an international group of optics experts were in a quarry in Bedfordshire this week testing out the optics they hope to fit to the European Space Agency's ambitious Martian rover mission.
They are using a prototype of the rover - called Bridget - to test the optics the European Space Agency's Exomars rover mission will need.
Due to launch in 2016 Exomars will dig deep into the martian soil looking for evidence of life. But ESA scientists also want it to send back the best images of the martian surface - not just stills, but 3D digital maps of the planet that can be of use to future missions to Mars.
The optical research group called PRoVisG are trying to standardise the optics that will then be rolled out across other robot missions to Mars. They are working closely with European aerospace giant Astrium who have built Bridget.
They spent this week trundling up and down a 70m arena in the red sandy quarry deliberately strewn with rocks to resemble Mars. As well as checking that video and still images correspond to each other, they were also attempting to test 3D images from the Bridget's stereo camera.
These images are not only essential for mapping the geology and topography around the rover, but they should help the rover decide where it's safe to drive.
Image courtesy of Nasa/JPL
