Picture-book story

Robotic Future: a story in three chapters

A young settler powers up a colony, rescues a lost rover and opens the first school. You are the young builder with the satchel and the toolbox.

Chapter 1 Power Up

You step off a shuttle beside dusty solar panels, with domes in the distance. — Your shuttle lands on a quiet plain. The solar field is dusty and dim.

You and the robots wipe the dust off the solar panels. — You clean panel after panel with the robot crew.

The domes light up while robots cheer beside you. — The grid hums to life, and domes light up across the plain.

From real life: On Mars, dust really does settle on solar panels. NASA's rovers Spirit and Opportunity lost power to dust, and gusts of wind sometimes blew their panels clean.

Power tower
Robot monument
Life support dome

Chapter 2 The Lost Rover

You look through binoculars at a rover stuck in a red canyon. — A supply rover has gone silent out in the canyon.

A robot helps you pack a backpack and a repair kit. — You train for the long walk and pack the repair kit.

You fix the rover's wheel and drive it home to the colony. — You find it, fix its wheel and drive it home with the supplies.

From real life: Radio messages take several minutes to travel between Earth and Mars, so rovers there have to look after themselves between orders.