New Prototype Rover For Lunar And Mars Missions Demonstrated

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 14: Research team members Caltech grad student Jeffrey Edlund (L), Principal Investigator Issa Newnas (2nd L), Pablo Abad-Manterola (2nd R), and Kevin Noertker (R) pose with Axel, a research prototype rover for exploring the Moon, Mars and other planets, as engineers from Jet Propulsion (JPL) and grad students from Caltech (California Institute of Technology) demonstrate its mobility over the steep and rocky grounds of the JPL Mars Yard on January 14, 2009 in Pasadena, California. The rover is capable of descending cliffs or into craters and returning by a cable tethered to its starting point. Development of the Axel rover is a point effort funded by NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) and lead by Principal Investigator Issa Newnas and Co-Investigator and Caltech professor of mechanical engineering bio engineering Joel Burdick. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)