rover

Everyday

1. A rover is a vehicle that drives around on the surface of another planet or the Moon to explore it, like the Mars rovers. tree →
2. A rover is a person or animal that wanders from place to place. tree →
3. Rover is an old-fashioned common name for a pet dog, used in jokes and stories. tree →
4. A Rover Scout is an older member of the Scouts in some countries. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about space, rovers such as Curiosity and Perseverance drive on Mars, take photos, drill rocks and look for signs of water and past life; they are robots controlled from Earth. In stories «Rover» is the dog's name and «a rover» is a traveller with no home. Phrases: Mars rover, lunar rover, a roving reporter.

Examples

• The rover took photos of red rocks on Mars. tree →
• Engineers on Earth send instructions to the rover. tree →
• A message takes minutes to travel from Earth to the rover. tree →
• The lunar rover carried astronauts across the Moon. tree →
• We built a model rover out of a shoebox and bottle tops. tree →
• The old sailor had been a rover all his life. tree →
• «Come here, Rover!» called the farmer. tree →
• The rover's wheels got stuck in the sand. tree →
• Ralph the Rover walked the deck. tree →

Note

Countable: one rover, two rovers. Comes from the verb «rove», meaning to wander. Names of real rovers have capitals (Curiosity, Perseverance). Fact: rovers move very slowly and cannot be steered live with a joystick, because signals take several minutes to reach Mars. Land Rover is a car brand, a name.