Tag Archives: rover

A rover for Phobos and Deimos

Posted on June 20, 2019 by rburnham

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. These are the target of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which also involves international partners. Scheduled for launch in 2024, it will enter Mars orbit in 2025, and return samples … Continue reading →

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Could a ‘wind harvester’ provide back-up power for Mars rovers?

Posted on March 18, 2019 by rburnham

Researchers at the University of Warwick [U.K.] have been inspired by the unique movement of trembling aspen leaves to devise an energy harvesting mechanism that could power weather sensors in hostile environments and could even be a back-up energy supply … Continue reading →

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ESA: Self-driving rovers tested in Mars-like Morocco

Posted on December 20, 2018 by rburnham

Robots invaded the Sahara Desert for Europe’s largest rover field test, taking place in a Mars-like part of Morocco. For two weeks three rovers and more than 40 engineers tested automated navigation systems at up to five different sites. This … Continue reading →

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NASA: Open-source plans to build your own rover

Posted on July 31, 2018 by rburnham

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a rover like NASA’s Curiosity rover, part of the Mars Science Laboratory project?  One would rightfully assume it takes expertise in mechanical engineering, software development, and electronics to even begin to … Continue reading →

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Simulated Mars rover failure tests ‘ePartners’

Posted on October 8, 2015 by rburnham

Car trouble is never good – especially on the Red Planet. An actual robotic vehicle experienced wheel failure during a simulated Mars rover journey, in order to test the ability of prototype ‘electronic partners’ to help human astronauts. “The distance, … Continue reading →

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Scouting Mars with rover-carried helicopters?

Posted on January 23, 2015 by rburnham

Getting around on Mars is tricky business. Each NASA rover has delivered a wealth of information about the history and composition of the Red Planet, but a rover’s vision is limited by the view of onboard cameras, and images from … Continue reading →

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HiRISE image: a landing site in Ladon Vallis

Posted on January 30, 2014 by rburnham

One of the important tasks HiRISE has is to image potential landing sites for future rovers. A landing site must have relatively mild terrain so that the vehicle can land successfully, but it must also contain interesting places to study. … Continue reading →

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Big pile in Gale Crater

Posted on March 30, 2012 by rburnham

Gale Crater, the landing site for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover (named Curiosity), contains a 5-kilometer (3-mile) high stack of sediments that was the reason for sending the the rover there. How did the giant mound form? Dirty snow and … Continue reading →

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