A US company has designed an all-electric solar-powered concept car to explore Mars.
Designed by Florida-based Parker Brothers Concepts, the mean-looking vehicle was designed using input from NASA experts.
The one-off vehicle was put on display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex back in 2017.
The six-wheeled vehicle looked a bit like the Batmobile and was specially designed to be able to tackle the tough terrain on Mars.
The all-electric concept car is solar-powered
NASA has successfully sent half a dozen rovers to the red planet, starting with Sojourner, which landed in 1997, right up to Perseverance, which landed in 2021.
The rovers have offered some incredible insight and discoveries over the years, including taking the first-up close photograph of Mars’ surface.
And – more recently – finding the presence of organic molecules that could be potential proof of ancient microbial life.
But as yet, none of the rovers sent to Mars have been designed to carry human passengers, which is where this concept could come in handy.
The all-electric vehicle is powered by solar panels and a 700-volt battery, NASA explained in a statement.
It’s been specially designed to handle the tough terrain on Mars
Designer and builder Marc Parker told Business Insider that the concept was created with ‘every intention’ of being able to take on Mars’ bumpy and hard-going terrain.
The rover can be separated in the middle, with the front part designed for scouting with radio and navigational equipment.
Meanwhile, the back serves as a mobile laboratory, which can be disconnected to allow astronauts to carry out ‘autonomous research’.
“The lab section can actually disconnect and be left on its own to do autonomous research,” Parker told the publication.
“That way the scout vehicle can go out to do its thing without the fuel consumption and extra weight, then come back later.”
Despite this, it won’t actually get a chance to roll across Mars, because it was created as an inspirational and educational tool to be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center before doing a small tour of the US.
However, in a statement at the time of its unveiling, NASA did say that ‘one or more of its elements could make its way into a rover [that] astronauts will drive on the Red Planet’.
So, watch this space (sorry).
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