At an average speed of 98 ft. per hour, Curiosity isn’t going to win any NASCAR races. In the future, NASA could cover more ground by deploying something like the Super Ball Bot, based on the principle of tensegrity developed by Buckminster Fuller. These robots, made entirely out of interlocking rods and cables, could be dropped off by a spacecraft and then make their way across a planet like mechanical tumbleweeds. No rigid connections means they would be tough and flexible, although scientists are still working on a way to control them from Earth.