Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Satellites - Robotic Probes
  Robotic drones for planetary exploration

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Robotic drones for planetary exploration
SpaceAholic
Member

Posts: 5004
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-08-2022 07:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"We know what the Wright brothers' first flight did for humanity here on Earth, and I think we'll follow that same model on other planets," said Teddy Tzanetos, a robotics technologist in the Aerial Mobility Group and team lead for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, in an interview with the BBC.
"I hadn't thought of an analogue comparison like that, but the Dragonfly is the next step after Ingenuity's first flight," says Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle, the principal investigator at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. "It will be the first [aerial] vehicle to carry its entire scientific payload from place to place."

Like the early polar aviation pioneers, NASA engineers realised how aerial vehicles could revolutionise the exploration of new worlds. Iconic machines like the Martian landers Viking and Curiosity and orbiters like Titan's Cassini will continue to play key roles in exploration where there is a suitable atmosphere, but there might be other options. Robotic and controlled dirigibles, helicopters, drones and even inflatable propeller planes (all proposals by NASA scientists) could quickly gather high-quality data about large areas of a planet's surface, avoid hazardous terrain, collect up-close imagery impossible from a rover or orbit, and see mission targets from different perspectives. Aerial vehicles like these can also go where rovers can't – mountains, peaks, and even the inhospitable surface of Venus.

The problem for NASA's engineers is that the environment on each planet imposes a different set of constraints on the type of aircraft, its payload and capabilities. The technology available to the engineers poses similar constraints.

perineau
Member

Posts: 318
From: FRANCE
Registered: Jul 2007

posted 02-09-2022 10:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for perineau   Click Here to Email perineau     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Reminds me of the debate between man and machines exploring space and if in the final analysis, space is perhaps a too expensive and dangerous place for humans to go.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2022 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement