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Future Mars Rovers Could Mimic a Swimming Motion to Traverse the Planet's Surface

May 20, 2026
Future Mars Rovers Could Mimic a Swimming Motion to Traverse the Planet's Surface
By Evan Gough (https://ift.tt/0LAdPWn)

This rover has odd-shaped wheels that let it mimic the motion of a desert lizard that can sort of "swim" through sand. In testing, the wheels outperformed regular rover wheels when moving across sand. Image Credit: Marco Schmidt / Universität Würzburg

Some animals can move efficiently beneath granular surfaces. These include the sandfish (Scincus scincus), a lizard native to the Sahara. It can burrow into the sand and then literally "swim" through the desert sand to hunt or escape predators. German researchers are working on a rover wheel design that mimics that swimming motion. In testing, the wheel system outperformed regular wheels.



May 21, 2026 at 04:03AM
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