Solar System Exploration
- Paper number
IAC-08.A3.6.1
- Author
Mr. Maninder Pal Singh, D.A.V Insitute of Engg & Technology,Jalandhar, India
- Year
2008
- Abstract
"Every tool carries with it the spirit by which it has been created"- Heisenberg Our solar system is a place of beauty and mystery, incredible diversity, extreme environments, and continuous change. The first New Frontiers mission is New Horizons, which will conduct the first reconnaissance of the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt. COROT is a French national space agency (CNES)-led mission which will monitor some 120 000 stars with its 30-centimetre telescope. A Boeing Delta II rocket is poised to help NASA investigate the beginnings of our solar system by launching Genesis into a halo orbit between the Earth and Sun. For 2009/2011 ESA ExoMars program, MDA is developing concepts and APXS instruments for the ExoMars rover and instrument payload package. The "BepiColombo", a Mercury exploration project jointly planned by Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA), will conduct comprehensive observations of Mercury. The "PLANET-C" is a planetary exploration project to unveil the mysteries of the atmosphere of Venus. Other mission by JAXA include "HAYABUSA" (MUSES-C) and SOLAR-B. The Deep Space Network developed by NASA has evolved into the most sensitive and reliable deep space receiving instrument. One prototype robot called Hyperion developed at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, carefully navigates to avoid being caught in shadows, so that its solar panels are always receiving sunlight. Another experimental robot, called the Extra-Vehicular Activity Robotic Assistant (ERA), is a true astronaut partner--roving on wheels side-by-side with a space-suited human. Robonaut, best-suited for duty outside the spaceship, is under development at the Johnson Space Center. Solar system exploration has an increasing variety of tools available like flyby spacecraft, orbiter for global remote-sensing observation, advanced radioisotope power, aerial platforms. Technologies like ultrasonic drill will allow us to explore and sample planetary materials with high efficiency. Technology of broad benefit includes proximity communication with low mass-power components. The International Space Station and its robotic arm, Canadarm2, are an example of a well-integrated system. NASA is studying a Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter as the Potential first use of fission power. The AT&ST Group is supporting JPL's new thrusts toward the exploration of Saturn's moon Titan, and the outer planets by helping to develop a variety of planetary aerovehicles which include unmanned balloons and ballutes. Our robotic explorers are extension of ourselves. We instill in them our innate sense of curiosity as we bid them look over the next rock or under the next rock.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.A3.6.1.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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