The Desert RATS Virtual Test Site is a 3-D environment that combines NASA models with topography and satellite imagery to bring the Arizona analog to your mobile device. Navigate your avatar around the 2011 Base Camp to see hardware NASA is testing in the field. Visit kiosks at each asset to learn about how it fits into the future of space exploration and link to the projects on the web. An aerial map is also provided to show NASA science sites along the Black Point Lava Flow and share the questions geologists hope to answer during the outing.
About Desert RATS:
For 14 years NASAs Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) analog has brought together scientists and engineers to test robotic equipment, vehicles, habitats, space suits, communications, and power generation and storage in remote locations similar to future destinations in space. The teams evaluate mobility, infrastructure, and effectiveness in the harsh environments, and conduct scientific studies similar to those that would be performed on the moon, near Earth asteroids, or Mars and its moons. Analogs like Desert RATS provide NASA with data about strengths, limitations, and the validity of planned human-robotic exploration operations, and help define ways to combine human and robotic efforts to enhance scientific exploration. Other NASA analog locations include the Antarctic, oceans, and arctic and volcanic environments.