Just as remotely-operated vehicles help humans explore the depths of the ocean from above, NASA has begun studying how a similar approach may one day help astronauts explore other worlds. On June 17 and July 26, NASA tested the Surface Telerobotics exploration concept, in which an astronaut in an orbiting spacecraft remotely operates a robot on a planetary surface. In the future, astronauts orbiting other planetary bodies, such as Mars, asteroids（小行星） or the moon, could use this approach to perform work on the surface using robotic avatars. "The initial test was notable for achieving a number of firsts for NASA and the field of human-robotic exploration," said Terry Fong, Human Exploration Telerobotics project manager and director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., which designed and manages the tests. "Specifically, this project represents the first fully-interactive remote operation of a planetary rover by an astronaut in space."