When rehearsing for a concert - tune the instruments, and when preparing for a journey, even a robotic one, to Mars, perform a field experiment
NASA is currently conducting field tests in preparation for launching two robotic all-terrain vehicles to Mars in January 2004. This is what the NASA website says.
Operation scientists will rely on them to make discoveries. To prepare for the intense activity during the operation, NASA personnel perform engineering work with the vehicles here on Earth. The field test with the FIDO vehicle will allow the crews to calibrate the instruments so they can investigate geological and environmental findings and use the vehicle to conduct experiments on them. They practice decision making Fast and efficient so that they can extract the most information and insight when these vehicles reach Mars.
The pace will be fast. The time to look at the data, decide where to turn and what to do is short, and the speed of light must also be taken into account, in order to transmit commands to the vehicles. The scientists will have to decide if they want to perform an experiment and the engineers will have to decide how and if at all the robotic vehicle will be able to reach the point of interest to you scientists.
The camp is taking place this year in the Mojave desert in the western USA.
