Rover in a spin

ESA Space in Images ESAâ??s light-studded Rover Autonomy Testbed vehicle does a twirl during night testing in Tenerife, intended to simulate the low light environment of the lunar poles. The testbed, operated by a team from GMV in Spain, plus ESAâ?'s Heavy Duty Planetary Rover, overseen by ESAâ''s planetary robotics team , have travelled to the Canary Islands for day and night testing in the volcanic, Moon-like environment of Teide National Park. The two rovers carry navigation aids to work in both light and dark, including stereo cameras, lights, GPS, laser rangers and radar-like lidar. They can build digital 3D maps from these various sensors for both autonomous and teleoperated steering. To follow progress in Tenerife, follow the Twitter hashtag #DarkRover.