Related papers: Rotorcraft RPM on Mars
We investigate thermosphere responses to non-orographic gravity waves (GWs) using wind measurements from the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, alongside simulations from the…
Mars provides a critical analog to once habitable exoplanets that have since lost their surface liquid water. The current atmospheric state of Mars retains the chemical fingerprints of that transition, including isotopic signatures of…
Missions such as the Ingenuity helicopter have shown the advantages of using novel locomotion modes to increase the scientific return of planetary exploration missions. Legged robots can further expand the reach and capability of future…
Heat flow is an important constraint on planetary formation and evolution. It has been suggested that Martian obliquity cycles might cause periodic collapses in atmospheric pressure, leading to corresponding decreases in regolith thermal…
The illuminated dusty surface of Mars acts like a gas pump. It is driven by thermal creep at low pressure within the soil. In the top soil layer this gas flow has to be sustained by a pressure gradient. This is equivalent to a lifting force…
In this work, we propose the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for rover localization on Mars. Precise pose estimation is an important task for mobile robots exploring planetary surfaces, as they operate in GPS-denied environments.…
An effective method for detailed observation of the Solar System planets is the use of vehicles that can perform flight in their atmospheres, with the most promising of them being Flyers (aircraft for other planets atmospheres). Besides the…
Autonomous planetary vehicles, also known as rovers, are small autonomous vehicles equipped with a variety of sensors used to perform exploration and experiments on a planet's surface. Rovers work in a partially unknown environment, with…
The perturbative integral method was applied to quantify the contribution of external forces during a specific interval of time in trajectories of spacecraft around asteroids and under the Luni-solar influence. However, this method has not…
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has been in orbit around Mars since March 2006. The Context Camera (CTX) on MRO has returned over 100,000 images of the planet at approximately 5-6 meters per pixel, providing nearly global…
The exploration of the lunar poles and the collection of samples from the martian surface are characterized by shorter time windows demanding increased autonomy and speeds. Autonomous mobile robots must intrinsically cope with a wider range…
This roadmap outlines research pathways to determine whether Mars could be warmed with non-biological methods. It does not presuppose that warming Mars is desirable; its purpose is to identify what would need to be true for Mars to be…
This paper proposes a solution for multiple-impulse orbital maneuvers near circular orbits for special cases where orbital observations are not globally available and the spacecraft is being observed through a limited window from a ground…
The abstract is additional with repect to the paper published in JGCD. Ordinary Earth satellites are usually placed into five categories of special orbits: sun-synchronous orbits, orbits at the critical inclination, frozen orbits, repeating…
Landing robotic spacecrafts and humans on Mars has become one of the inevitable technological necessities for humans. Effectuating perfect Mars expedition requires landing of enormous cargoes, crewed modules, ascent vehicles, and scientific…
Fifty years ago, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built and flew the first successful spacecraft to another planet: Mariner 2 to Venus. This paper discusses the context of this mission at a crucial phase in the space race between the…
Wheeled ground robots are limited from exploring extreme environments such as caves, lava tubes and skylights. Small robots that can utilize unconventional mobility through hopping, flying or rolling can overcome these limitations.…
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), on board Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) rover Curiosity, measures the {energy spectra} of both energetic charged and neutral particles along with the radiation dose rate at the surface of Mars. With…
I discuss some aspects of the recent test of frame-dragging performed by me by exploiting the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) orbit overlap differences of the out-of-plane component N of the orbit of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft in the…
The ability to launch small secondary payloads to Mars on future science missions present an exciting opportunity for demonstration of advanced technologies for planetary exploration such as aerocapture. Over the years, several aerocapture…