NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) presents today, during the Earth and Space Congress 2010, the future rovers that will explore Mars. They are giant spheres without wheels called Mars Tumbleweed .
So far, exploration on Mars has been done in three different ways: by satellites working around an orbit ; with the help of landers such as the Phoenix , robots that incorporate a series of instruments through which samples are taken and nearby areas are photographed; or on board rovers like Spirit or Opportunity .
The idea of sending a "Martian Ball" ( Mars Ball ) to the red planet was first suggested in 1977 by Jacques Blamont of JPL. Two decades later, in 2000, another JPL team led by Jack Jones was testing an inflatable three-wheeled rover in the Mojave Desert (California) when one of them broke and was sunk in the desert sand. From there, the scientists thought that the best design for a future scientific vehicle would be a giant sphere 1.5 meters in diameter, without wheels and propelled by the Martian wind .
JPL hopes that these Tumbleweed will be able to explore previously unknown areas on the Martian surface and increase knowledge about the possible existence of life on Mars.
