PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena is testing out a new prototype of the Mars rover.

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The latest exploration vehicle was dubbed "Scarecrow" by the mobility team, because it was still without a brain, like the famous scarecrow from the "Wizard of Oz."

For the first time ever, Scarecrow went through its paces in front of a television crew Tuesday morning in the Mars Yard, a special area set up to simulate the actual surface of the Red Planet, complete with rocks, craters, mounds and hills.

According to KNBC's Jinah Kim, the Mars Yard is the last stop before rover prototypes are equipped to be sent into space.

Scarecrow is the prototype of a Mars rover that will be used in a 2009 mission to Mars, according to NASA.

Engineer Richard Rainen explained why the rovers need to be tested so thoroughly.

"We really can't control very well where we land and we may land on some hilly terrain. So we built this facility to basically test drive the vehicle, to make sure it doesn't do simple things like fall over when it goes up a hill ... The last thing we want is for it to drive off the edge of a crater and have the thing tumble and end up on its back," Rainen said.

The purpose of the next mission is to follow the evidence of water that has already been found on the surface of Mars, according to Rainen.

The rover will carry sensitive scientific instruments looking for traces of life, including a laser that can pulverize rock from 20 feet away.

The purpose of the laser is to allow the quick examination of a variety of rocks on the planet, according to Rainen.