I missed it if anybody brought this one up:

from http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050309_lorax.html
or http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329130622.htm

quote
Date:
2005-04-05
Researchers Deploy Robot On Frozen Lake In Preparation For Antarctic
Expedition

Nomad, one of Carnegie Mellon University's most accomplished robotic
rovers, is at it again. This time the rover that trekked 220 kilometers
through Chile's Atacama Desert and explored Antarctica for meteorites
is being groomed for a potential return to the frozen continent to
search for signs of living microorganisms near the top of its icy
surface.
[...]
In the past, Nomad has largely been teleoperated, but for the LORAX
expedition, it was given the "brains" of another robot called Zoé that
has been surveying microscopic life in the Atacama Desert.

"The goal of this field experiment was to establish that Nomad's
mobility on snow and ice and our technology for autonomous navigation
meet the requirements for survey traverse in the Antarctic," said
Robotics Institute Associate Research Professor David Wettergreen.
/quote


And of course, the Atacama Desert work was part of figuring out how to
detect life on Mars, as well.


Picture at
http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/extra_art/050309_lorax_1.jpg

/dps