Mars fascinates scientists because of its similarity to Earth, and it fascinates the public because our myth of "Martians" is a vision of life beyond Earth. The Mars (62) continues with the launch of a robot vehicle by UK scientists. It’s part of a project to build an "autonomous robotic scientist" to (43) the Martian suce and is key to the European Space Agency’s 2011 ExoMars ()
The six-wheeled vehicle housing a myriad of scientific (65) and detectors is the Mars rover, nicknamed "Bridget". Astrium, an EADS company, are (66) the ExoMars rover prototype and coordinating its (67) with other UK-based institutions.
Searching for a (68) similar to that found on Mars, the team took the rover to E1 Teide National Park in Tenerife. Lester Waugh, leading the EADS Astrium team, explains, "The rover’s not waterproof so the conditions need to be dry as any moisture affects the way the sand (69) under the wheels. "
Solar panels will supply power and radioisotope(放射性同位素) heater units will help it withstand the cold on Mars. The team is optimizing the performance of the wheels, suspension, the drive system, (70) it doesn’t dig itself in on tricky terrain.
Taking (71) to twenty minutes for radio signals to reach Earth demands a powerful (72) system to allow the rover to operate (73) so they are also developing next generation computer software (74)
The rover will land on Mars packed to capacity (75) scientific gadgets designed to be as light and as small as possible. The (76) development time is essential for rigorous testing, as Waugh explains, " (77) we put things in apace we have to make sure that they’ll (78) the radiation environment, the (79) of heat and cold. Our science (80) is crucial, and malfunctions may affect that. The more science we get back the better (81) there is for spending more money on planetary exploration. \