Engineers at NASA are driving Mars' rover, Curiosity, backwards to save its wheels from further damage.
Curiosity has been driving backwards for three months, having travelled at most 329 feet. Since its landing on 2012 on the planet's Gale Crater, Curiosity has travelled a total of 3.34 miles.
Driving the rover backwards was the solution carried out to address the problem of the wear and tear observed in the rover's wheels. In 2013, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at Florida noticed that there were too many scratches and holes in the wheels, which may cause serious damage in the future.
"That gave us concern," Curiosity's lead scientist and Caltech geologist John Grotzinger told LA Times. "We expect to get damage to the wheels, but we were surprised at the rate."
According to the researchers, Curiosity is more prone to damage than the earlier Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit because the former is heavier and more weight is being supported by its wheels.
Engineers theorized that driving the rover backwards may alleviate the damage on the front and middle wheels. They also found out that driving backwards do not only reduce the damage for the front and middle wheels, but it also reduces the amount of total damage sustained by all of the wheels.
Erickson explained that this is so because the rover uses a "rocker-bogie" system that the rover is using to help it travel. This system allows the rover to get a grip first before climbing up rough patches of rocks. When maneuvering the rover in the forward position, it subjects the wheels into too much pressure which causes damage on the wheels. On the other hand, driving the rover backward eliminates the pressure since the system only works when the rover is moving in its forward position.
Driving the rover backwards is part of the test, and since Curiosity is now travelling in smooth routes, there's no need for this maneuver. After passing through dunes called Dingo Gap, the rover is now headed to an area called KMS-9. This location is now called Kimberley after a place in Australia where ancient rocks were found.
