The FIDO rover uses its robotic arm to collect data.

JPL is all about robotic space exploration. As NASA's lead center for creating robotic spacecraft and rovers, we build smart machines that can perform very complicated tasks millions of miles from home. Robots can literally go where no person has gone before, to other planets where the environments are not suitable for humans until we have studied them in much greater detail. The robots and spacecraft we build are our eyes and ears on these distant planets.

One of our most famous rovers was Sojourner, the rover that explored the surface of Mars in 1997 as part of the Pathfinder mission. We build our rovers to be sturdy enough to withstand extreme weather conditions and all types of terrains. Some of the rovers we are developing have huge, soft wheels that inflate. Another rover called FIDO, a prototype for the twin rovers going to Mars in 2003, is robust and functions as a mini-lab.