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Establishing lunar infrastructure is paramount to long-term habitation on the Moon. To meet the demand for future lunar infrastructure development, we present CraterGrader, a novel system for autonomous robotic earthmoving tasks within…
We carried out wind tunnel experiments on parabolic flights with 100 $\mu$m Mojave Mars simulant sand. The experiments result in shear stress thresholds and erosion rates for varying g-levels at 600 Pa pressure. Our data confirm former…
Planet Mars past environmental conditions were similar to the early Earth, but nowadays they are similar to those of a very cold desert, irradiated by intense solar UV light. However, some terrestrial lifeform showed the capability to adapt…
Impact flashes on the moon are caused by high-speed collisions of celestial bodies with the lunar surface. The study of the impacts is critical for exploring the evolutionary history and formation of the Moon, and for quantifying the risk…
As humankind prepares to establish outposts and infrastructure on the Moon, the ability to manufacture parts and buildings on-site is crucial. While transporting raw materials from Earth can be costly and time-consuming, in-situ resource…
Establishing a human settlement on Mars is an incredibly complex engineering problem. The inhospitable nature of the Martian environment requires any habitat to be largely self-sustaining. Beyond mining a few basic minerals and water, the…
In this work we present laboratory measurements on the reduction of the threshold friction velocity necessary for lifting dust if the dust bed is illuminated. Insolation of a porous soil establishes a temperature gradient. At low ambient…
We present the first calculation of saltation transport and dune formation on Mars and compare it to real dunes. We find that the rate at which grains are entrained into saltation on Mars is one order of magnitude higher than on Earth. With…
When a jet of gas impinges vertically on a granular bed and forms a crater, the grains may be moved by several different mechanisms: viscous erosion, diffused gas eruption, bearing capacity failure, and/or diffusion-driven shearing. The…
The 2009 Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impact mission detected water ice absorption using spectroscopic observations of the impact-generated debris plume taken by the Shepherding Spacecraft, confirming an existing…
A method and facilities for delivering payload and people into outer space are presented. This method uses, in general, engines located on a planetary surface. The installation consists of a space apparatus, power drive stations, which…
Time-limited space missions may miss rare occurrences of very dense clouds of lunar dust. At the same time, the information provided by the Earth-based monitoring of the Moon during at least the last three centuries still remains unused. In…
We determined the possible compensation depths for relief harmonics of different degrees and orders. The relief is shown to be completely compensated within the depth range of 0 to 1400 km. The lateral distributions of compensation masses…
Planetary impact events eject large volumes of surface material. Crater excavation processes are difficult to study, and in particular the details of individual ejecta fragments are not well understood. A related, enduring issue in…
Landing is a challenging part of autonomous drone flight and a great research opportunity. This PhD proposes to improve on fiducial autonomous landing algorithms by making them more flexible. Further, it leverages its location, Iceland, to…
Ancient sediments provide archives of climate and habitability on Mars. Gale Crater, the landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), hosts a 5 km high sedimentary mound. Hypotheses for mound formation include evaporitic, lacustrine,…
The long term dreams to approach Mars requires numerous spacecraft attempts for exploration as well as to understand the perception of the red planet. Before launching a mission, the space probe undergoes critical ground testing and…
It is generally accepted that silicate-metal (`rocky') planet formation relies on coagulation from a mixture of sub-Mars sized planetary embryos and (smaller) planetesimals that dynamically emerge from the evolving circum-solar disc in the…
The colonization of Mars presents extraordinary challenges, including radiation exposure, low atmospheric pressure, and toxic regolith. Recent advancements in synthetic biology and genetic engineering offer unprecedented opportunities to…
Special Regions on Mars are defined as environments able to host liquid water that meets certain temperature and water activity requirements that allow known terrestrial organisms to replicate, and therefore could be habitable. Such regions…