Space scientists aren’t playing around. They’re very serious—about their giant sandbox.

British and Russian scientists are practicing for space missions. Practicing helps them prepare for real-life problems. They have a great practice spot, too.

The Mars Yard.

The Mars Yard looks a lot like a sandbox. It also looks a lot like Mars. Really it is a 500-square foot testing ground in California. Imagine having a sandbox that big!

The Yard has red-tinted sand and strange-looking robotic vehicles. It will help scientists test a new Mars rover. A rover is a vehicle. It is designed to push itself along the surface of Mars.

The rover’s cameras need practice, too. They need to see what they will see on Mars. Scientists colored every surface in the Yard reddish-brown. They placed rocks there. Rovers steer around the rocks.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch a Mars orbiter in 2016. Later, ESA wants to launch another rover. This rover will carry a drill. That will test the Mars soil. Soil samples will go into a laboratory right on the rover. Information from the samples will be sent back to Earth.