The new design of Mars hoppers can make the rover more maneuverable
All along, landing probes use wheels to move around, but their movement is blocked by bunkers, steep slopes and debris areas. The hopping robot will jump over these obstacles to a safe and smooth surface. The research team is from Leicester University and astalim space company. They proposed a design for a rover powered by an isotopic thermal rocket engine. Carbon dioxide will be extracted from Martian air and compressed for liquefaction. Liquid carbon dioxide is pumped into a cavity and comes into contact with the intense heat of the radioactive source, which then erupts through a pipe.
Curiosity is trying to climb a mountain, but it has to bypass a dangerous bunker area
Data calculation shows that this thrust can make a heavy spacecraft jump 900 meters at a time. Hugo Williams of the space research center at Leicester University said: 'the advantage of this method is that you can shuttle more freely and have more mobility. '
You can imagine jumping in craters and canyons and collecting samples from tens of kilometers away. Researchers have been studying in detail how the gas compression system works and how to build machine legs. The latter is the key of the whole design.
At present, the legs of planetary landers tend to use collapsible honeycomb materials to reduce the impact of landing. It's great if you don't want to move again, but a bug hopping robot needs a recoverable landing frame so it can land repeatedly.
The current research has been sponsored by the European Space Agency. Researchers have drawn up a design for a 1000 kilogram hopping robot with legs spanning about four meters and a main body about two and a half meters wide. In this design, it must be able to carry at least 20 kg of scientific instruments. The study also points out many areas that need to be studied, such as systems that collect and compress carbon dioxide, which can take weeks to collect available propulsion.
To be practical, this process requires a lot of shortening. Mike Williams, a mission systems engineer at astarim space, said: 'although we have found some limitations in various technologies, I think we have proved that such a mission is feasible. '