The Mars Rover is the “most complex machine ever sent to another planet. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head."
It's every sci-fi fans dream, but it's (really) confusing. How does The Mars Rover work? How does it discover new life? What happens if it breaks?
Joining us on the pod today is Emily Lakdawalla - author of 'The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job'.
In this fascinating pod, Emily talks about the challenges of Mars, new life and control room drama.
No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work”. Given its complexity, and with no one human understanding of how it all works, it’s incredible that it works so well. How do you ensure coherence between its different functions given its complexity?