Tim Peake's next challenge: Driving a rover from space

The International Space Station (ISS) astronauts may soon have a new duty – driving rovers on distant planets. Tim Peake, the popular European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut who ran a marathon in space earlier this week, will have to steady himself in a seat aboard the ISS as he pilots a rover on Earth on Friday. The driving is part of a project simulation program, called Meteron, in which a Mars rover will be driven around a faux-Mars landscape in England. The end goal, however, will be for an astronaut orbiting outside a distant world to help direct a rover in dangerous maneuvers. "Space is such a harsh place for humans and machines that future exploration of our Solar System will most likely involve sending robotic explorers to'test the waters' on uncharted planets before sending humans," the ESA says on a Meteron website.