It’s not inconceivable that we’ll get humans on Mars within our lifetime, so we better have some cool cars waiting for us when we get there. Judging from NASA’s recently unveiled Mars rover concept, we don’t have to worry. The angular design is the perfect melding of what the 1950s thought space travel would look like and what will actually work according to NASA scientists. The dark color scheme is a nice touch, as most of what we think of for space travel is white or slightly off-white and we’re glad to see some variety. On Earth, the rover can reach highway speeds, which, through complicated math we don’t understand, translates to roughly 15 mph on the Martian surface. It’s an enormous vehicle too, coming in at 28 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 11 feet tall, so initial human exploration of Mars is going to be done in what’s pretty much a space tank. Finally, this isn’t just a design concept. The announcement saw the rover actually drive to its display rather than pop out from behind a curtain or something.
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