Chapter 1 ROBOTS ON THE GO A robot with six wheels drives to a rock The robot is about the size of a golf cart Its name is Opportunity The rock and the robot are on the planet Mars Opportunity rolls across the surface of Mars What does Opportunity do on Mars 4
Opportunity’s cameras took this image of Chocolate Hills The image was colored to show the difference in rocks and soil types on Mars The rock is called Chocolate Hills It is covered with dark stuff The coating reminds scientists of chocolate They want to know what that dark coating is Opportunity explores Chocolate Hills 5
Opportunity uses its instruments to find out what the coating is Then the robot sends the information back to Earth With Opportunity’s help the scientists are learning about Mars Opportunity uses its robotic arm as it examines the surface of Mars 6
What Are Space Robots A robot is a machine that performs tasks People install computer programs in robots These sets of instructions tell the robots what to do Some robots work in space This image shows the robot Spirit which went to Mars the same year as Opportunity 7
