Microrover Research for Exploration of Mars

There is great interest in the science community to explore Mars by using microrovers that carry several science instruments and are capable of traversing long distances [1]. NASA has planned six additional missions to Mars for 2001, 2003, and 2005. There is an excellent chance that rovers will be utilized in some of these missions. Such rovers would traverse to sites separated by several kilometers and place instruments against outcrops or loose rocks, search an area for a sample of interest, and collect rocks and soil samples for return to Earth (2005 mission). Our research objectives are to develop technologies that enable such scenarios within the mission constraints of mass, power, volume, and cost.