Since our last report, the Puli rover has safely arrived to the MARS2013 test field and completed its first runs. Although we have two team members on site to escort it, the rover is controlled remotely from the Mission Control Center, located at the City Hall of Budapest. We are delighted to report that the first runs were a great success!

Landfall at Morocco – the field crew in the eyes of the Puli rover.

The Puli rover prototype is checked, packaged, and on its way to Mars - or rather the quite realistic Mars simulation experiment organized by the Austrian Space Forum. Our I2 rover will navigate an area of the Moroccan part of the Sahara during the simulation as if it were Mars, while other participants will be testing space suit simulators and other equipment for a future manned mission to our planetary neighbor. The simulation will take place in February, which is why all instruments are already collected and packaged, and are currently being shipped in cargo containers across the Mediterranean sea. Once the rover "lands" in the target area, Team Puli Space members will direct its actions from the the mission control center in Budapest like a real Mars mission.

Next month we are undertaking our most ambitious project to date. Stay tuned.