The first construction workers on Mars may not need hardhats. NASA researchers successfully demonstrated the first use of multiple rovers that work tightly in sync to perform tasks such as coordinated grasping, lifting and moving of an extended payload, while navigating through obstacles on natural terrain. “The Robotic Work Crew behaves a lot like its human counterpart might during a home construction project. Consider the challenge two people face when transporting a long, heavy board through a busy worksite,” said Dr. Paul Schenker, supervisor of the Mechanical and Robotics Technologies Group and principal investigator for the project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.