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This paper describes work on a concept for a probe that would be capable of km-scale deep subsurface ice penetration on Europa or other Ocean World. Penetrating deep into or through the ice cap over the liquid ocean is the best way to establish if life has evolved there. A central thesis of this work is that we must start by addressing the Planetary Protection constraints, and not to try to add them...
As part of the Human-Robot Systems project funded by NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a vehicle called ATHLETE: the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer.1 Each vehicle is based on six wheels at the ends of six multi-degree-of-freedom limbs. Because each limb has enough degrees of freedom for use as a general-purpose leg, the wheels can be locked and used as feet to walk...
Solar sails have long been known to be an attractive method of propulsion in the inner solar system if the areal density of the overall spacecraft (S/C) could be reduced to ∼10 g/m2. It has also long been recognized that the figure (precise shape) of useful solar sails needs to be reasonably good, so that the reflected light goes mostly in the desired direction. If one could make large reflective...
As we have previously reported [1-4], it may be possible to launch payloads into low-Earth orbit (LEO) at a per-kilogram cost that is one to two orders of magnitude lower than current launch systems. The capital investment required would be relatively small, comparable to a single large present-day launch. 1 2 An attractive payload would be large quantities of high-performance chemical rocket propellant...
As part of the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a vehicle called ATHLETE: the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer. Each vehicle is based on six wheels at the ends of six multi-degree-of-freedom limbs. Because each limb has enough degrees of freedom for use as a general-purpose leg, the wheels can be locked and used as feet to...
As we have previously reported, it may be possible to launch payloads into low-Earth orbit (LEO) at a per-kilogram cost that is one to two orders of magnitude lower than current launch systems, using only a relatively small capital investment (comparable to a single large present-day launch). An attractive payload would be large quantities of high-performance chemical rocket propellant (e.g. LO2/LH2)...
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