Mars Rover

Mars_rover.jpg Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle which propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars after landing.

Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control.

There have been three successful Mars rovers, all of which were robotically operated. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the Mars Pathfinder mission with its Sojourner rover and currently manages the Mars Exploration Rover Mission with its two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. (There have also been two successful non-Martian robotic rovers: in the 1970s the USSR sent two Lunokhod rovers to the Moon. )

There are also three Mars Rover missions planned for the future, including the European ExoMars Rover from ESA, the American Curiosity and MAX-C Rovers from NASA.

In The Big Bang Theory
The Mars rover was referenced in The Lizard-Spock Expansion as well as in The Apology Insufficiency episodes. During the show, it was referred to the Mars rover incident where Howard invited a girl he met in a bar, Stephanie to "drive" the Mars rover who doesn't have clearance to be in the area.