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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Design of the MESUR/pathfinder microrover

The use of unmanned robotic vehicles to assist in the exploration of Mars and other planets has been of interest to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for several decades and has been the focus of an ongoing research program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for a similar period of time. As a result of these research activities, JPL is in the process of designing and building a small (7-9 kg) microrover to be flown aboard the Mars Environmental Survey Mission (MESUR)/Pathfinder spacecraft, which is tentatively to be launched to Mars in late 1997. The microrover will perform a variety of technology experiments designed to provide information critical to the design of future planetary rovers. In addition, the microrover will perform several science and lander related experiments using specialized onboard instruments. To enable the microrover to perform these experiments at selected target areas and at the same time deal with the long time delays (and limited communications bandwidth), a control/navigation approach combining the use of operator-designated waypoints and onboard behavior control has been adopted. The design of the MESUR/Pathfinder microrover and the overall manner in which it is controlled are described herein.

Stone, Henry W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Microrover research at JPL

Planetary exploration with microrovers can be extended beyond the baseline short-range capability proposed for the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) microrover mission. The useful range of the microrover can be increased by using local landmarks to accurately reach desired science sites with a minimal number of Earth commands. Furthermore, onboard processing can give indications of excessive sinkage or slippage, which comprise hazards which may not be detectable from imaging, as well as to improve dead reckoning performance. Lastly, it is important to estimate the mean and variance of mission parameters such as time-to-reach-goal, energy-to-reach-goal, and likelihood-of-finding landmark. The author of the paper discusses research focused on accomplishing these objectives.

Wilcox, Brian↗
NASA NTRS1997

Sojourner: The Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment

The Microrover Flight Experiment (FEX) is a NASA Office of Space Access and Technology flight experiment of mobile vehicle technologies, whose primary mission is to determine microrover performance in the poorly understood planetary terrain of Mars.

Microrover Mars Pathfinder↗
NASA NTRS2000

Summary of Results from the Risk Management Program for the Mars Microrover Flight Experiment

On 4 July 1997, the Mars Pathfinder landed on the surface of Mars carrying the first planetary rover, known as the Sojourner. Formally known as the Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX), the Sojourner was a low cost, high-risk technology demonstration, in which new risk management techniques were tried. This paper summarizes the activities and results of the effort to conduct a low-cost, yet meaningful risk management program for the MFEX. The specific activities focused on cost, performance, schedule, and operations risks. Just as the systems engineering process was iterative and produced successive refinements of requirements, designs, etc., so was the risk management process. Qualitative risk assessments were performed first to gain some insights for refining the microrover design and operations concept. These then evolved into more quantitative analyses. Risk management lessons from the manager's perspective is presented for other low-cost, high-risk space missions.

Shishko, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1997

Sojourner The Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment

The Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) is a NASA Office of Space Access and Technology flight experiment of mobile vehicle technologies, whose primary mission is to determine microrover performance in the poorly understood planetary terrain of Mars.

Mars Pathfinder Sojourner↗
NASA NTRS1996

Microrover Research for Exploration of Mars

There is great interest in the science community to explore Mars by using microrovers that carry seveal science instruments and are capable of traversing long distances[1]. NASA has planned six additional missions to Mars for 2001, 2003, and 2005. There is an excellent chance that rovers will be utilized in some of these missions. Such rovers would traverse to sites separated by seveal kilometers and place instruments against outcrops or loose rocks, search an area for a sample of interest, and collect rocks and soil samples for return to Earth (2005 mission). Our research objectives are to develop technologies that enable such scenarios within the mission constraints of mass, power, volume, and cost.

microrovers missions to Mars↗
NASA NTRS1992

Microrover Operates With Minimal Computation

Small, light, highly mobile robotic vehicles called "microrovers" use sensors and artificial intelligence to perform complicated tasks autonomously. Vehicle navigates, avoids obstacles, and picks up objects using reactive control scheme selected from among few preprogrammed behaviors to respond to environment while executing assigned task. Under development for exploration and mining of other planets. Also useful in firefighting, cleaning up chemical spills, and delivering materials in factories. Reactive control scheme and principle of behavior-description language useful in reducing computational loads in prosthetic limbs and automotive collision-avoidance systems.

Miller, David P.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Operations and Autonomy of the Mars Pathfinder Microrover

The Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) is a NSAS OACT (Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology) flight experiment which, integrated with the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) lander and spacecraft system, landed on Mars on July 4, 1997.

navigation surface operations scenario commmand se↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Mission and Operations of the Mars Pathfinder Microrover

The Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) is a NASA OACT flight experiment which is planned to be delivered and integrated with the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) lander and spacecraft system for landing on Mars on July 4, 1997.

autonomous mobile robot navigation mobility hazard↗
NASA NTRS1996

Mars Pathfinder Microrover- Implementing a Low Cost Planetary Mission Experiment

The Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) is a NASA Office of Space Access and Technology (OSAT) flight experiment which has been delivered and integrated with the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) lander and spacecraft system. The total cost of the MFEX mission, including all subsystem design and development, test, integration with the MPF lander and operations on Mars has been capped at $25 M??is paper discusses the process and the implementation scheme which has resulted in the development of this first Mars rover.

Mars Pathfinder↗
NASA NTRS1996

Mars Pathfinder Microrover: A Small, Low-Cost, Low-Power Spacecraft

This paper provides an overview of the design of the Mars Pathfinder Microrover with an emphasis on how its integrated design enables it to perform all of the functions normally associated with entire spacecraft. The impact that mass, volume, and power constraints have had upon the design will also be discussed.

Discovery missions Pathfinder Mars Pathfinder Sojo↗
NASA NTRS1995

Mars Pathfinder Microrover - Implementing a Low Cost Planetary Mission Experiment

The Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) is a NASA OACT flight experiment which is planned to be delivered and integrated with the Mars Pathfinder (MFP) lander and spacecraft system for landing on Mars on July 4, 1997. After landing, the MFEX rover is deployed from the lander and begins a 7 sol (1 sol=1 Martian day) mission to conduct technology experiments, deploy an alpha proton x-ray spectrometer (APXS) on rocks and soil, and image the lander as part of the engineering assessment of the mission after landing.

Mars Pathfinder↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Pathfinder Microrover

An exciting scientific component of the Pathfinder mission is the rover, which will act as a mini-field geologist by providing us with access to samples for chemical analyses and close-up images of the Martian surface, performing active experiments to modify the surface and study the results, and exploring the landing site area.

Mars Mars Pathfinder rover microrover imager for p↗