NASA shows off new space exploration machine

From The Mirror (UK): Nasa shows off latest space exploration machine, set to stomp about the moon

Nasa showed off its latest space exploration machine yesterday - and it will need all six limbs if it has any chance of negotiating the pock-marked surface of the Moon.

The nearest equivalent we have to the lunar landscape on Earth is said to be the north Arizona desert - and the All-terrain Hex-limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (or Athlete for short) has successfully completed two weeks of intensive stress trials there.

Nasa scientists and engineers spend two weeks every year in the desert testing out their latest ideas.

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The astronauts move around in special Space Exploration Vehicles, Nasa's newest rover prototype, which is about the size of a pick-up truck.

They have a pressurised bubble cabin in which two astronauts can live for up to 14 days. Mike Gernhardt, a Nasa astronaut and rover project manager, said: "We're out here to simulate a planetary exploration mission using these dual rovers, or space exploration vehicles, and we set this up like it really is a real mission. We have flight rules, flight plans, a whole science team that's assessing all the different types of information we get."

It's certainly a busy old fortnight - but there's still time for some vegging, as special plants are grown under bizarre atmospheric conditions inside a hermeti-cally sealed module.

The latest rover built to tackle Mars was also unveiled yesterday. Called Curiosity, it is due to be launched on its mission to find life on Mars next year, arriving in 2012.

Curiosity is about the size of a Mini Cooper - and will need a new landing system due to its increased weight. An early predecessor, Pathfinder, which landed on Mars in 1997, was only the size of a microwave oven.