NASA Tests Its MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder System on a Simulated Martian Surface

NASA has tested its MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) system using a RASSOR robot to excavate the regolith layer of a simulated Martian surface at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The test demonstrated how astronauts and robots can recover resources from the surface of Mars and elsewhere to further space exploration with elements and materials not brought from Earth.

photo via NASA