NASA's ERNEST rover prototype achieves 0.6mph, 10 times faster than current Mars rovers
By
Darius Popa
Summary
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a new rover prototype called ERNEST (Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain) that covered 16 miles in 37 hours during a field test in California's Colorado Desert in March 2026. The four-wheeled rover reached speeds of up to 0.6mph, making it roughly 10 times faster than any rover currently operating on Mars. While slow by human standards, this speed represents a significant advancement in planetary rover capabilities and could fundamentally change robotic exploration of other worlds.
Source
bskyNASA's ERNEST rover prototype achieves 0.6mph, 10 times faster than current Mars roversthenextweb.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledThe four-wheeled machine, called ERNEST, reached speeds of up to 0.6mph during a field test in California's Colorado Desert in March 2026.
That pace would be unremarkable for a human on foot, but for a planetary rover it represents a fundamental shift in what robotic exploration could look like.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has built a rover prototype that covered 16 miles in 37 hours of driving, making it roughly 10 times faster than any rover the agency currently operates on Mars.
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