Outer Space Rover Tested in Antarctica
- Google Video
Outer Space Rover Tested in Antarctica
A balloon-shaped robot explorer that one day could search for water on other planets has survived some of the most trying conditions on planet Earth during a 70-kilometer (40-mile), wind-driven trek across Antarctica. The Tumbleweed Rover, which is being developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., left the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Jan. 24, completing its roll across Antarctica's polar plateau roughly eight days later. Along the way, the beach-ball-shaped device, roughly two meters (six feet) in diameter, used the global Iridium satellite network to send information about its position, the surrounding air temperature, pressure, humidity and light intensity to a JPL ground station. The test was designed to confirm the rover's long-term durability in an extremely cold environment, with an eye toward eventually using the devices to explore the Martian polar caps and other planets in the solar system. It reinforces the findings of a test conducted previously on the Greenland ice cap, also carried out under the auspices of NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP). The final Tumbleweed Rover is envisioned as a lightweight, roughly 40-kilogram (88 pound) device that can serve multiple roles as an independent robotic explorer. The rover's design allows it to act as a parachute while descending through an atmosphere, an air bag on landing, and, ultimately, as an unmanned vehicle equipped with an package of scientific instruments. Tumbleweed is the brainchild of several JPL scientists, including Alberto Behar, a researcher with JPL's robotic vehicles group.
Google Video | May 26, 2007
