The MUSES-CN nanorover mission and related technology

Recent advances in microtechnology and mobile robotics have made it feasible to create extremely small automated or remote-controlled vehicles which open new application frontiers. One of these possible applications is the use of nanorovers (robotic vehicles with a mass of order 1 kg or less) in pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Proceedings (Cat. No.00TH8484) Vol. 7; pp. 287 - 295 vol.7
Main Authors Wilcox, B.H., Jones, R.M.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 2000
Subjects
Collaboration
Instruction sets
Instruments
NASA
Orbital robotics
Robotics and automation
Space missions
Space technology
Space vehicles
Surface morphology
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Summary:Recent advances in microtechnology and mobile robotics have made it feasible to create extremely small automated or remote-controlled vehicles which open new application frontiers. One of these possible applications is the use of nanorovers (robotic vehicles with a mass of order 1 kg or less) in planetary exploration. NASA and Japan's ISAS are cooperating on the first mission to collect samples from the surface of an asteroid and return them to Earth for in-depth study. The ISAS MUSES-C mission will be launched on a Japanese launch vehicle in July 2002 from Japan toward a redezvous with the asteroid 1989ML in September 2003. A NASA-provided nanorover will conduct in-situ measurements on the surface. Asteroid samples will be returned to Earth by MUSES-C via a parachute-borne recovery capsule in June 2006. This paper describes the rover being created for this mission and related technology developments.
ISBN:9780780358461
0780358465
ISSN:1095-323X
2996-2358
DOI:10.1109/AERO.2000.879296