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Ray Arvidson and the perils of hill driving on Mars

Ray Arvidson and the perils of hill driving on Mars
Ray Arvidson and the perils of hill driving on Mars Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University St. Louis (left) was on hand at LPSC to discuss his poster presentation. The take-home message from lessons learned on the Martian road with Opportunity and Curiosity? “Don’t drive up steep hills,” he said. Rover Planner Paolo Bellutta, a co-author, respectfully disagreed: “descending is more hair-raising for me.” Opportunity couldn’t quite make it up to the chosen outcrop at the top of Knudsen Ridge in Marathon Valley (right), and wound up having to, very carefully, back down. Collection of R. Arvidson (left); NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU