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Tumbleweed rover tests demonstrate transformative technology for low cost Mars exploration

Tumbleweed rover tests demonstrate transformative technology for low-cost Mars exploration
Field tests with the Tumbleweed Science Testbed in a quarry in Maastricht in April 2025. Credit: Team Tumbleweed/Sas Schilten

A swarm of spherical rovers, blown by the wind like tumbleweeds, could enable large-scale and low-cost exploration of the Martian surface, according to results presented at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division for Planetary Sciences (EPSC-DPS) 2025.

Recent experiments in a state-of-the-art wind tunnel and field tests in a quarry demonstrate that the rovers could be set in motion and navigate over various terrains in conditions analogous to those found on Mars.

Tumbleweed rovers are lightweight, 5-meter-diameter spherical robots designed to harness the power of Martian winds for mobility...

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