Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Team Selene: Spiral lander/Rover concept

"We are now pursuing a new lunar rover concept which involves deploying a rover that hovers above the lunar surface once the lander is secure on the lunar surface."

"This new lunar rover uses a tether on a spool attached to a counterbalance. As the spool rotates, the cable unwinds in a measured and tightly controlled fashion ensuring a gradually increasing, spiral orbit for the rover around the lander as the rover attempts to travel the required 500m distance. Because centripetal force will vary based on the radius of the path traveled by the rover, the rotation speed of the spool must be constantly adjusted to hold the altitude of the rover steady."
Google Lunar X-Prize Posting HERE.

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