A robot constructed by the Mars Robotics Association. Butler Eagle file photo
On Saturday, May 11, the public can visit Mars to experience the thrill of controlling a rover on the surface of Mars.
The Mars Robotics Association is hosting an event which will give the public a chance to control robots not too dissimilar to NASA’s Perseverance rover, which currently is scanning the Red Planet for signs of life.
“We’re trying to simulate the same principles as the real rovers,” said Jeff Beckstead, president of the Mars Robotics Association.
On Saturday, visitors can drive these robots across an 8-by-16-foot surface representing a portion of Mars, with an image taken from a real-life satellite capture of the planet. The robots were constructed of Lego bricks by members of the Mars Robotics Association.
These robot pilots are tasked with collecting “rock samples” and determining whether the samples are worthy of being investigated for signs of life.
“Each one has a test tube that’s inserted into it, and inside that test tube is a color that would represent that type of rock,” Beckstead said. “We go out, find rocks, then we bring them back to base. Then, we evaluate those to see if they’re valuable or not.”
In so doing, they will simulate the Perseverance rover’s mission to collect rocks to study for signs of life on Mars.
“The Perseverance rover is collecting rock samples on Mars and putting them in sample tubes,” Beckstead said. “The next mission to Mars will bring those samples back to Earth for laboratory investigation.”
Saturday’s event is a collaboration between the Mars Robotics Association and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and also is part of Remake Learning Days, which is taking place across southwestern Pennsylvania through May 22. Remake Learning, a nonprofit educational network, provided the grant for this event.
“They’ve been promoting a lot of different activities across the state that are focused on STEM education,” Beckstead said. “Mars Robotics was awarded a grant to help us support this activity.”
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mars municipal building, 301 Arch St. According to the event’s webpage, the event is targeted mainly at those ages 8 to 18.
