Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                November 1, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1753)

Mike Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
(Phone:  415/604-3937)

RELEASE:  96-223

STUDENTS TO REMOTELY CONTROL RUSSIAN MARS ROVER IN DESERT TESTS

     A group of young students will take a virtual trip to
Mars this month when they remotely steer a Russian-built
robotic rover through a barren Arizona desert from their classrooms.

     The experiment is one of several NASA activities
designed to develop the next generation of planetary rovers
that will explore Mars early next century.  The first Mars
rover, aboard NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander mission, is due
for launch on December 2.

     Using their computers and the Internet, the students
will control the rover as it navigates through a sparsely-
vegetated area during a NASA field test to simulate future
robotic exploration of the red planet.  The test site is
located near Flagstaff on a Navajo Indian reservation
adjacent to U.S. Highway 160.  Students in Tuba City schools
will steer the robotic vehicle Nov. 1 and again on Nov. 12.

     Scientists consider the site to be an excellent analog
for Martian terrain.  The fact that the site is located on a
Navajo Indian reservation makes it even more special to the
science team, according to project leader Dr. Carol Stoker, a
planetary scientist from NASA's Ames Research Center,
Mountain View, CA.

     "Beyond the fact that it's a good Mars analog, a big
motivator for us in choosing this site was to give a
community that is not extensively involved in space
exploration a first-hand, up close and personal kind of
experience with NASA scientists in the field," Stoker said.

     "You'd think that going out into the middle of a desert,
people there would not necessarily be interested in space
exploration," Stoker added.  "However, what I found is that
there is a tremendous amount of excitement about space
travel.  It was just like I'd walked into the next building
back at Ames and was talking to a bunch of rocket
scientists."

     "Space travel is kind of a religious, mythical
experience for the Navajo people," said Emmit Kerley,
community services coordinator for the Tuba City Chapter of
the Navajo Nation.  "In Navajo mythology, we believe that we
came down from the stars and that it is our destiny to return
to the stars."

     During the field tests from Nov. 4-9, scientists will
conduct a six-day Mars science mission simulation using the
Marsokhod.  The Russian-built robotic vehicle is equipped
with American avionics, computers and science instruments.

     The Marsokhod, or Mars rover, features six titanium
wheels, a robotic arm to pick up rock and sediment samples
and stereo video cameras mounted on a pan and tilt platform
to transmit live images of the field test via satellite back
to scientists at Ames.  Scientists at Ames will control the
Marsokhod using a Virtual Environment Vehicle Interface
(VEVI) rover control software.  Scientists will communicate
with the rover using a portable satellite communication
antenna at the test site.

     "We're using virtual reality as a substitute for live
video because of the time delay in radio communications
between Mars and Earth," Stoker said.  "A virtual reality
model shows where you are in the terrain and gives you a
sense of presence in that space you don't have because of the
long time delay."

     In addition to Stoker, the six-member field team
includes Dr. Michael Sims, Daryl Rasmussen, Dan Christian and
Jeff Moore, all from Ames, and Ron Greeley of Arizona State
University.  On Nov. 12, the scientists will conduct another
educational outreach activity involving students from several
Arizona schools remotely controlling the Marsokhod using
their classroom computers.  Persons wishing to access the
Internet web site for the field tests may visit the following URL:

                 http://img.arc.nasa.gov

     Approximately 200 students from 10-15 schools in the
Tuba City, AZ, area have been invited to participate in the
Mars rover activity on Nov. 1.  Schools include Greyhills
Academy High School, Tuba City High School, Tuba City Junior
High School, Tuba City Boarding School (K-8), and Eagles Nest
Intermediate School all of Tuba City; Toneala Elementary
School; Kayenta High School, Kayenta; Moenkopi Day School;
Hopi Junior and Senior High School located on the Hopi
Reservation in Keams Canyon, and Shiprock High School,
Shiprock, AZ.  The Institute for Native Americans at Northern
Arizona University and the Rural Systemic Initiative, which
is funded by the National Science Foundation, helped arrange
the Mars field test on the Navajo Reservation and coordinate
the student activities.

     Russian engineers from the Lavochkin Association in
Moscow and several Navajo students will participate in this
month's desert field test by working with the NASA scientists
in the remote "mission control station" located at Ames.  The
technology being tested may be used in a proposed joint
Russian-American mission called "Mars Together," tentatively
scheduled for launch by the Russians in the year 2001.

                        -end-