Finding the path to a better Mars rover
Abstract
A Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) based on a basic Rocky 4 design and conducted in the framework of the NASA Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Pathfinder program is described. The MFEX rover design features six powered wheels attached by a set of 'bogie levers' to a single body. The rover is designed to perform technology, science, and mission experiments. Instruments on the rover mechanisms will determine wheel-soil interactions, detect hazards, and determine navigational errors. Science data will be gathered using an alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer against one or more rocks, and possible soil. The pathfinder will also serve as an engineering test of a transport and landing system for the MESUR network mission and the rover will image the lander to assess its condition.
- Publication:
-
Aerospace America
- Pub Date:
- September 1993
- Bibcode:
- 1993AeAm...31...12P
- Keywords:
-
- Mars Environment;
- Mars Sample Return Missions;
- Mars Surface;
- Roving Vehicles;
- Computer Techniques;
- Nastran;
- Power Converters;
- Ground Support Systems and Facilities (Space)