NASA’s new Mars Rover concept vehicle looks like it could eat the 1970s version for breakfast.
Getting a jump on promoting the latest “space race”—this one to the Red Planet—NASA has put together a new “Summer of Mars”campaign at its home base at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of this effort included building a jet-black, space-age tank of sorts, which looks more like a prop from a G.I. Joe or Transformers movie than something that astronauts might haul themselves around in on Mars.
There’s actually some truth to that, too. Per Business Insider, the all-electric six-wheeler is the brainchild of designer Marc Parker, who told the publication that, while it was built to handle the rocky terrain of Mars, it will sadly never make the voyage. However, it will still be going on a nationwide tour promoting the “Summer of Mars” here on Earth. There will also be a reality TV show about how it was built coming out soon (likely Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, per Business Insider).
Featuring immersive exhibits that focus on the future of space exploration and potential Mars missions, the “Summer of Mars” experience opens Friday, May 26, at the Kennedy Space Center. It will be free for all incoming fifth graders—with the hope that some might end up as future Mars astronauts. (The offer is good through September 4, 2017.)
—additional reporting by RealClearLife’s Will Levith
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