Backpack carrier Patent

Backpack carrier with retractable legs suitable for lunar exploration and convertible to rescue vehicl

Lunar exploration for water deposits by electrical methods

Lunar exploration for water deposits by electrical method

A study of evaluation techniques for lunar science Final report

Analysis for quantifying value of scientific experiments in lunar exploration progra

Lunar navigation study, volume 2 Final report, Jan. - Dec. 1966

Performance data utilization in mission phase, lunar exploration phase, and navigational phase of lunar roving vehicle mission

Lunar exploration for resource utilization

The strategy for developing resources on the Moon depends on the stage of space industrialization. A case is made for first developing the resources needed to provide simple materials required in large quantities for space operations. Propellants, shielding, and structural materials fall into this category. As the enterprise grows, it will be feasible to develop additional sources - those more difficult to obtain or required in smaller quantities. Thus, the first materials processing on the Moon will probably take the abundant lunar regolith, extract from it major mineral or glass species, and do relatively simple chemical processing. We need to conduct a lunar remote sensing mission to determine the global distribution of features, geophysical properties, and composition of the Moon, information which will serve as the basis for detailed models of and engineering decisions about a lunar mine

Lunar Precursor Robotic Program: A Robotic Focus To The Vision

In April 2006, NASA, with help from the commercial and international communities, began developing a global Lunar Exploration Strategy. These activities resulted in themes that expanded on why we should return to the Moon and objectives that identify what we should do when we get there. NASA used these results to develop a Lunar Architecture designed to achieve the subset of the global Lunar Exploration Strategy objectives that fit within NASA's scope. A component of this architecture is the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program. This Program, anticipated to consist of both lunar orbiters and landers, is intended to meet many of NASA's lunar exploration objectives

Mapping solar irradiance within Schrödinger Basin for future robotic sample return missions

The US National Research Council (NRC) identified eight scientific concepts and thirty-five prioritized investigations to be addressed with continued lunar exploration. These objectives are broadly consistent with those identified throughout the international community. the majority of these objectives require sample return from the Moon. Schrödinger basin has been highlighted as a particularly attractive location to find suitable samples

RATLER: Robotic All-Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover

A robotic rover vehicle designed for use in the exploration of the Lunar surface is described. The Robotic All-Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER) is a four wheeled all-wheel-drive dual-body vehicle. A uniquely simple method of chassis articulation is employed which allows all four wheels to remain in contact with the ground, even while climbing over step-like obstacles as large as 1.3 wheel diameters. Skid steering and modular construction are used to produce a simple, rugged, highly agile mobility chassis with a reduction in the number of parts required when compared to current designs being considered for planetary exploration missions. The design configuration, mobility parameters, and performance of several existing RATLER prototypes are discussed

The challenges and benefits of lunar exploration

Three decades into the Space Age, the United States is experiencing a fundamental shift in space policy with the adoption of a broad national goal to expand human presence and activity beyond Earth orbit and out into the Solar System. These plans mark a turning point in American space exploration, for they entail a shift away from singular forays to a long-term, evolutionary program of exploration and utilization of space. No longer limited to the technical and operational specifics of any one vehicle or any one mission plan, this new approach will involve a fleet of spacecraft and a stable of off-planet research laboratories, industrial facilities, and exploration programs. The challenges inherent in this program are immense, but so too are the benefits. Central to this new space architecture is the concept of using a lunar base for in-situ resource utilization, and for the development of planetary surface exploration systems, applicable to the Moon, Mars, and other planetary bodies in the Solar System. This paper discusses the technical, economic, and political challenges involved in this new approach, and details the latest thinking on the benefits that could come from bold new endeavors on the final frontier

The utility of unmanned probes in lunar exploration

Utility of unmanned probes of Ranger or Surveyor class in Apollo exploration program - Lunar scientific exploratio