Robotic vehicle to ‘hop’ from spot to spot in exploring Moon’s south polar region
Raytheon plans to conduct hover tests of a conceptual lunar exploration vehicle at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as part of plans to develop a robotic craft for a possible Moon mission as early as 2010.
The vehicle, being developed by Raytheon Missile Systems in Arizona, unusually incorporates several elements from defence projects, including the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile and the exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) – the interceptor component of a system developed to engage ballistic missiles in mid-course.
“That’s the magic of what we’re doing,” says Satish Krishnan, systems engineer and design lead for the project, dubbed Penguin as the mission is aimed at exploring the Moon’s remote south polar region, looking for ice that could support settlements and onward deep-space exploration. “By using these elements, we get an early production maturity, as well as reducing the total lifecycle cost.”
The study vehicle will use the digital scene-matching area correlation (DSMAC) navigation software developed for the Tomahawk, allowing the Penguin to precisely navigate to pre-programmed locations across the lunar surface.
The vehicle, which would be boosted to the Moon and descend virtually all the way to landing using conventional, multi-stage rockets, would also use a version of the EKV’s bi-propellant liquid propulsion rockets to “hop” from spot to spot during its explorations.
“It’s very affordable because there is no real new technology here,” says senior systems engineer and programme manager Karleen Seybold.
“We’re still in the concept stage, but the idea is the vehicle will move by hopping from one site to another. It will restart its engines and relocate to another site between 1-3km away.”
The outline design is scalable to suit several potential mission scenarios ranging from several days to several months, says Seybold, who adds lunar scientists are currently being canvassed as part of the definition process.
The initial prototype vehicle is expected to be put through a series of hover tests at the Edwards test site, where the EKV was evaluated. The first tests could take place as early as the end of 2006.
GUY NORRIS/LONG BEACH
Source: Flight International
