Scientists working in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission (2004–2018) reported having a sense of presence on Mars. How is this possible, given that many of the factors underlying presence in mundane situations were absent? We use Riva and Waterworth's (2014) Three-Level model to elucidate how presence was achieved. It distinguishes among proto-presence, core-presence, and extended-presence. We argue that scientists did not experience proto-presence because it requires a tight sensorimotor coupling not available due to the way the rovers were controlled and due to the lengthy delays in getting feedback. Instead, the design of the sociotechnical system made core-presence and extended-presence possible. Extended-presence involved successfully establishing long-term conceptual goals during strategic planning meetings. Core-presence involved enacting short-term tactical goals by carrying out specific actions on particular targets, abstracting away from sensorimotor details. The shift of perspective to the Martian surface was facilitated by team members “becoming the rover,” which allowed them to identify relevant affordances evident in images. We argue, however, that because Mars exploration is a collective activity involving shared agency by a distributed cognitive system, the experience of core- and extended-presence was a collective sense of presence through the rovers.

参与火星探测车 (MER) 任务（2004-2018 年）的科学家报告说，他们在火星上有一种存在感。考虑到在世俗情况下存在的许多潜在因素都不存在，这怎么可能？我们使用 Riva 和 Waterworth (2014) 的三级模型来阐明如何实现临场感。它区分原始存在、核心存在和扩展存在。我们认为，科学家们没有体验到原型存在，因为它需要紧密的感觉运动耦合，由于漫游者的控制方式以及获得反馈的长时间延迟而无法使用。相反，社会技术系统的设计使核心存在和扩展存在成为可能。长期存在涉及在战略规划会议期间成功建立长期概念目标。核心存在涉及通过对特定目标执行特定行动来制定短期战术目标，从感觉运动细节中抽象出来。团队成员“成为漫游者”促进了视角向火星表面的转变，这使他们能够识别图像中明显的相关可见性。然而，我们认为，由于火星探索是一项涉及分布式认知系统共享代理的集体活动，核心和扩展存在的体验是通过漫游者的集体存在感。”，这使他们能够识别图像中明显的相关可见性。然而，我们认为，由于火星探索是一项涉及分布式认知系统共享代理的集体活动，核心和扩展存在的体验是通过漫游者的集体存在感。”，这使他们能够识别图像中明显的相关可见性。然而，我们认为，由于火星探索是一项涉及分布式认知系统共享代理的集体活动，核心和扩展存在的体验是通过漫游者的集体存在感。