NASA unveils ‘origami’ robot

The great explorers Lewis and Clark knew the importance of team expeditions. Now, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California are developing a small scout robot called the Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) to accompany the next generation of Martian rovers in their outer space explorations. Inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, PUFFER is designed to change shape in order to squeeze into small crevasses that are too tight for rovers to reach. So far the two-wheeled scout has been successfully tested in hostile and diverse terrains including the Mojave Desert and Antartica. Though rovers themselves are built to last, they're expensive and NASA engineers take care not to send them on overtly dangerous missions.