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- Robotic rovers on Mars have transformed our knowledge about the red planet.<\/strong> And they\u2019ve provided tantalizing clues about possible past Martian life. But these rovers are also big, heavy and slow. <\/li>\n
- Walking robots might be the next step.<\/strong> Researchers in Switzerland and the Netherlands have been testing a prototype of a walking robot that could explore the Martian surface.<\/li>\n
- The robots move across the terrain on four legs<\/strong>. They\u2019re smaller, lighter and faster than Mars rovers. They could carry arrays of science instruments. And they would also be semi-autonomous, requiring less control from humans back on Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Walking robots on Mars and the moon<\/h3>\n
Robotic rovers have become the go-to way to explore our neighbor planet, Mars. And they\u2019ve been super successful. But they\u2019re also big, heavy and slow. They have to move carefully across the rocky and sandy terrain of Mars. Plus, communication delays between the rovers and Earth \u2013 and data transfer limitations \u2013 also affect their missions. Is there a better way? On March 31, 2026, researchers in Switzerland and the Netherlands announced a new idea: walking Mars robots. The research team said these robotic explorers would be semi-autonomous. This means they wouldn\u2019t need regular assistance from humans back on Earth. And, their makers say, they could explore their surroundings \u2013 on both Mars or the moon \u2013 faster than rovers.<\/p>\n
The researchers tested a prototype of the walking robot, named ANYmal. It could go to Mars or the moon. It could carry compact scientific instruments. And it could investigate interesting targets one-by-one and more quickly than current rovers can, according to the team.<\/p>\n
On Mars, this would help speed up the process of searching for possible biosignatures. Biosignatures are chemical or other signs of ancient Mars life.<\/p>\n
The researchers published the peer-reviewed details of the new exploration concept in Frontiers in Space Technologies<\/em> on March 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
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Semi-autonomous legged robots equipped with compact instruments can rapidly survey planetary surfaces, accelerating resource prospecting and the search for biosignatures on the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Science X \/ Phys.org (@sciencex.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T00:00:18-04:00<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Field tests at Marslabor<\/h3>\n
The research team tested the robot prototype at the Marslabor facility at the University of Basel in Switzerland. The robot has four legs, reminiscent of toy dog robots. But this is no toy. It can carry a set of compact science instruments for either Martian or lunar exploration.<\/p>\n
Marslabor simulates planetary or lunar terrain including rocks and regolith (tiny ground-up pieces of rock or dust).<\/p>\n
And the testing was successful. Even though the science payloads on the robots are smaller than on rovers, they identified a variety of rock types and minerals. These include gypsum, carbonates, basalts, dunite and anorthosite. All of those could also be valuable resources for future astronaut missions.<\/p>\n
![\"Robot](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/04\/autonomous-measurements-rock-MICRO-Raman-walking-robot-prototype-Marslabor-University-of-Basel-March-31-2026.jpg\")
View larger. | The walking robot prototype made autonomous measurements of a rock with its MICRO (microscopic imager) and Raman instruments. Right: examples of images from MICRO returned by the robot, showing the texture of 3 different lunar analogue materials in visible light, ultraviolet and infrared. Image via Gabriela Ligeza\/ Frontiers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Faster and more efficient exploration<\/h3>\n
One of the biggest advantages of using walking robots is speed. Rovers need to move fairly slowly and cautiously, especially on hazardous terrain. And the communication delays \u2013 for Mars in particular \u2013 mean that mission scientists and engineers back on Earth need to plan the rovers\u2019 drives and other operations in advance.<\/p>\n
The researchers compared two possible kinds of operations for the walking robots. One was traditional, with scientists providing input just as they do with rovers. The other was semi-autonomous, involving multiple science targets.<\/p>\n
And indeed, the semi-autonomous approach was much faster. Exploratory missions typically took from 12 to 23 minutes to complete. By contrast, a rover mission took about 41 minutes to complete the same tasks. In addition, the walking robot was able to correctly identify all of its science targets. As the paper notes:<\/p>\n
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Our study demonstrates that a multi-target semi-autonomous exploration approach is a viable option for geological investigations in planetary surface missions where the inability to control a robot in real-time significantly slows down exploration times and, consequently, the scientific return of the mission.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
![\"Mechanical](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/04\/Perseverance-rover-Mars-illustration-NASA-JPL.jpg\")
View larger. | The Perseverance rover on Mars. Today\u2019s rovers are incredible roving laboratories. But they are also large, heavy and slow. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n A bridge to future exploration<\/h3>\n
While this may still not be as fast as a human could perform the same tasks, it is significantly more efficient than rovers, to be sure. As such, robots like this could fill the gap between current rovers and future human explorers.<\/p>\n
And although the science instruments would need to be more compact and less complex than those on rovers, they could still provide much useful data. The robots\u2019 enhanced agility over rovers plays a big part in this.<\/p>\n
The paper states:<\/p>\n
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The findings provide valuable insights for the development of semi-autonomous, high-efficiency robotic exploration systems, contributing to the advancement of future Mars missions and planetary surface exploration.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It would certainly be interesting to see robots walking on Mars instead of roving on six wheels, wouldn\u2019t it? And maybe even someday it would be humanoid<\/em> robots!<\/p>\n
Bottom line: Researchers in Europe are testing a prototype for walking robots on Mars or the moon. Robots like this would be faster and more autonomous than current rovers.<\/p>\n
Source: Semi-autonomous exploration of martian and lunar analogues with a legged robot using a Raman-equipped robotic arm and microscopic imager<\/p>\n
Via Frontiers<\/p>\n
Read more: Rubies on Mars? Rover finds fluorescent gems for 1st time<\/p>\n
Read more: NASA testing underwater robots to explore ocean worlds<\/p>\n
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\n - Walking robots might be the next step.<\/strong> Researchers in Switzerland and the Netherlands have been testing a prototype of a walking robot that could explore the Martian surface.<\/li>\n