On the heels of last week’s announcement that the Agency is developing a robotic snake explorer, the ESA has unveiled a hopping robo-rocket explorer that could leap over nearly any obstacle in its way.
According to Hugo Williams of the Leicester's Space Research Centre, a partner in the program, "The advantage of this approach is that you have the ability to traverse more aggressive terrains but also that you have wider mobility - the possibility of traversing much greater distances than we have with even the very successful rovers".
To make this hopper work, researchers have devised a system that would harvest the CO2 that’s abundant in the Martian atmosphere and use it for fuel in a radioisotope thermal rocket engine.
As CO2 is extracted from the atmosphere it would be compressed into its liquid state and stored for later use. The hopper would then pump the liquid CO2 into a chamber where it could be heated by a radioactive source, creating the explosive thrust needed to make the robot “hop”.
So what kind of performance can we expect out of this hopper?
Well, based on current designs, a one ton hopper could jump to a height of 1km, and travel some 900 meters laterally. Given the time it would take to recharge its fuel supply and conduct relevant science experiments, the ESA says its hopper could travel 26km in 12 weeks – a massive improvement over the rovers range.
While it’ll likely be years, if not decades, before a hopper concept makes it aboard a rocket bound for Mars, I’m encouraged to see innovative and imaginative designs being created by the architects of our space exploration endeavors.
Image Courtesy of Astrium