ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer), six-legged robotic lunar rover, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA

In this NASA eClips video segment learn about the mobile robot NASA plans to use for future missions to Mars: the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, or Athlete. Athlete is a six-legged, wheeled, mobile robot that will be used to move the astronauts habitat as well as serve many other purposes for the mission. NASA is currently testing Athlete on Earth using the mathematics concept, scaling and ratios. Learn how NASA is able to test a model of Athlete, which is only 1/3 the size of the actual mobile robot!

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So you think you can dance? The ATHLETE rover thinks it can, too. Under development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ATHLETE is a 1/2-scale working prototype of a robot for potential use on the moon or Mars.

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A scaled model of the ATHLETE rover that will likely be used for future space missions. The video was taken in the Mars Yard at JPL while on a field trip with the Santa Barbara City College Astronomy department.

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