“It’s stunning! Sylvestre Maurice, the planetologist who designed the ChemCam and the SuperCam, in other words the laser eyes of the Curiosity then Perseverance rovers, and who discovers real Martian landscapes almost daily on his screens, validates the little piece of Red Planet unveiled Wednesday by La Toulouse Space City.
Not that small in fact: the site, swept by an Autan wind much stronger than the Martian breeze, is a 900 m² arena inspired by “Mont Mercou”. Its dimensions, the color of the fake rocks, the distribution of the strata of sediments have been approved by the Cnes teams who pilot the two rovers on “alternate duty”.
Bonus stunts
This Martian terrain, whose opening to the public is scheduled for April 5, constitutes the new “immersive animation” of the science park. “And we are not talking about a roller coaster, here there is a bottom”, adds the scientist. Two rovers, reproduced in real size but four times faster than their models so as not to put the audience to sleep, will roam the arena: the imposing Perseverance, but also Zhurong, the small Chinese rover looking like a dragonfly with its panels solar. For thirty minutes, they will reproduce their work every day. In particular for Perseverance and its rare phases of sampling Martian rock samples, the first return to Earth of which is scheduled for 2031.
Like the busybody, the small Ingenuity drone will also be there. The Toulouse rovers could even be more reckless than their counterparts by engaging in some “unthinkable” stunts on Mars, for lack of a mechanic if it goes wrong.