SANTA ANA : Teens Do a Mars Probe Experiment

Using cable television and computer technology, students at Santa Ana High School on Friday remotely piloted a NASA Mars probe that was in another part of the state.

As part of a science club experiment, the students teamed up with officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, McDonnell Douglas and a local cable company to demonstrate how technology will be used to control a similar craft on Mars during a U.S.-Soviet mission in 1997.

Many of the 25 students got a chance to steer the camera-equipped land rover, which was stationed at a NASA facility near San Jose. The students entered commands on a computer as they watched video images sent to the classroom by satellite and cable, said Steve Rosenthal, spokesman for Comcast Cablevision, which sponsored the experiment.

“It was like driving a car. Hopefully, in the near future we’ll get to do that on Mars,” said Marcela Jimenez, 17, who is president of the science club.

The best part of the demonstration was that “you’re actually doing it with your own fingers,” she said. “Instead of reading about it, you’re right there doing it.”

The goal of the demonstration was both to provide an educational experience and to field test a potential money-making cable-on-demand service for cable companies. In the future, cable companies may be able to offer scientists, students or anyone else a chance to pilot the probe on Mars for minutes or hours, Rosenthal said.

The class previously attempted to pilot the robot in November, but the experiment hit a snag when a cable that controls the device apparently became caught in a propeller.