Has NASA 'RESOLVE'd' on Canadian lunar rover?

The Canadian Space Agency test platform "Artemis, Jr.," fitted with NASA's RESOLVE surface materials probe package "RESOLVE," on Day 3 of field testing on Hawai'i, July 2012 [CSA].

Tom Spears
Ottawa Citizen

Neptec Design Group of Ottawa is the front-runner to build the next moon rover — a traveling robot that will hunt for water on an unmanned NASA mission in 2017. NASA has asked the Canadian Space Agency specifically for Neptec’s rover, called Artemis Jr., said Mike Kearns, president of space exploration with the Ottawa aerospace engineering firm.

It has chosen a Canadian drill and Canadian avionics, too.

“One of the missions on that path is called RESOLVE, renamed by some people now as the Lunar Prospector Mission,” Kearns said.“NASA, for funding reasons, has asked CSA to provide the rover and the drill. And they actually asked for our Neptec rover ... and for the drill that is made by a company called Deltion.” (Deltion Innovations of Sudbury took over the design that originated with NORCAT. Its drill developed out of Canadian mining technology.)

What sealed NASA’s interest was a test drive of the rover prototype on the side of a Hawaiian volcano, in 2012. Chosen to simulate the harsh landscape of the moon and Mars, it provided a place for Artemis Jr. to drive, pivot and steer past obstacles using its vision system and navigation software. It passed nine days of tests.It’s called “Jr.” because this is a scaled-down version of a Neptec rover designed to carry astronauts, called Artemis.

Searching for water in space is vital. Not only can astronauts drink it, but it can be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen, both used in rocket propellant. Artemis Jr. could also search for methane.Neptec hopes the 2017 date will resonate with politicians who want some flag-waving in Canada’s 150th year.

“The question that always comes up is: That’s very nice but what’s the financial benefit? What’s the return to the taxpayers. And the answer is that ... for every dollar that CSA gives us, we end up with $10, mostly in export sales. We sell those products around the world.”

While the Canadian Space Agency can open the bidding to include MDA, the CANADARM builders, Kearns says NASA’s preference gives his company’s Artemis Jr. rover a strong chance. MDA officials weren’t available for comment Monday.

NASA is publicly leaning toward the Neptec team. In a description of the mission it writes: “RESOLVE is not just a NASA effort; the Canadian Space Agency provided Artemis Jr., which is the rover for the payload; the onboard drill and sample transfer system; as well as avionics microprocessors.”

Fanciful rendering of the Artemis, Jr. platform on the floor of Mare Crisium. A better view of the system, in the real world and in more detail is available, HERE.

Artemis Jr. is actually the product of a group of Canadian companies: Ontario Drive and Gear, from New Hamburg, Ont.; ComDev and Neptec from Ottawa; Deltion; and NGC from Sherbrooke.

The four-wheeled rover can pivot on one spot, moving the right wheels forward and the left ones in reverse. It has coarse metal treads for traction, and a solar panel on top.

It’s designed for NASA’s Regolith & Environment Science and Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) project, which involves heating the “regolith” (loose minerals on the moon’s surface) to extract gas.

Related Posts:

Good things delivered in small packages, Paul Spudis (August 19, 2013)

Geological sampling and planetary exploration, Paul Spudis (February 19, 2013)

Canadian Lunar Exploration Light Rover Prototype (September 11, 2012)

Update: ISRU mission simulations on Hawai'i 2012 (July 30, 2012)

'a RESOLVE to mine the Moon,' Brian Shiro (July 15, 2012)

Bound for Hawai'i, NASA KSC shows off latest rover concept (June 13, 2012)

ISRU: NASA KSC prototype rover photo op (June 11, 2012)

From ISS, "the Moon ushers in the dawn"

"Moon ushers in the dawn," tweeted by ISS commander Chris Hadfield. The full field of view can be seen HERE.

Canadian Lunar Exploration Light Rover prototype

Stylized View of the Lunar Exploration Light Rover (LELR) Design, Figure 3 from "A Canadian Lunar Exploration Light Rover Prototype," McCoubry & Langley, et al, (Sept. 2012).

McCoubrey & Langley, et al
MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates, CANADA
Centre de technologies avancées BRP – Universite de Sherbrooke
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
CANADA

In 2010, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) commenced the Lunar Exploration Light Rover (LELR) project as part of its Exploration Surface Mobility program. The LELR project consists of building rovers, integrating them with tools and instruments, and executing representative mission deployments. The LELR is designed for mobility tasks related to science prospecting, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and future upgrades for crew transportation. The vehicle is based on a rugged, custom mobility platform built by Bombardier Recreational Products Centre for Advanced Technology.

Onboard sensors provide feedback and situational awareness for tele-operation, autonomy, and onboard control (future upgrade). Modular onboard software is used to ensure future upgradeability, and offers such features as localization without external aids and visual teach and repeat software developed by the University of Toronto. Future work may involve adding onboard human control, further integration with payloads and deployments in coordination with the international space exploration community.

Figure 2: "Artist’s Concept of the Lunar Exploration Light Rover’s Various Mission Configurations."

In the context of returning systems to the surface of the Moon, there have been several recent developments in the area of Lunar mobility. The Chariot rover is a large-class system designed to carry astronauts and perform regolith moving tasks such as bulldozing. The Eurobot Ground Prototype (EGP) rover is a medium-class system designed to accomplish both science exploration and transport of a single standing astronaut. The Scarab rover is a small-class rover designed to carry resource prospecting instruments and sensors. The goal of the Lunar Exploration Rover (LELR) program is to develop a mobility solution that can accomplish all of these tasks and thereby provide a flexible and versatile platform for development and testing including integration with exploration tools and instruments. This will then allow development and simulation of analogue mission scenarios. The LELR vehicle is a key part of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Exploration Surface Mobility program.

The remainder of this paper will discuss the mission scenarios used to define the LELR requirements, the LELR design, and the current program status and upcoming test plan.

View the full paper, HERE.

Some Related Posts

Update: ISRU mission simulations on Hawai'i 2012 (July 30, 2012)

'A Resolve to mine the Moon' (July 14, 2012)

O Canada! CSA lunar rovers under construction (February 21, 2012)

Update: ISRU mission simulations on Hawai'i 2012

The Canadian Space Agency test platform Artemis, Jr. is fitted with NASA's RESOLVE instrument, Day 3 of field testing on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, 2012 [CSA].

NASA has just completed a another annual field test on the Big Island of Hawai'i to evaluate new exploration techniques for the surface of the Moon. These analog missions, are performed at remote locations on Earth to prepare for robotic and human missions to the Moon and Mars.

The In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) analog mission is a collaboration of NASA partners, primarily the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), with help from the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES).

The ISRU analog mission will demonstrate techniques to prospect for lunar ice. The testing site (on Mauna Kea) features lava-covered mountain soil similar to the ancient volcanic plains on the moon. The two main tests under way are the Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) and the Moon Mars Analog Mission Activities (MMAMA).

Review the NASA press release, HERE.

Contributing:
Roving for resources on an Analog Moon, astronaut for hire (July 23, 2012)
NASA conducts mission simulations in Hawai'i AmericaSpace (July 30, 2012)

Related Posts:
Lunar robotic tests on the 'Big Island' (September 2, 2008)
Carnegie Mellon tests Scarab on Mauna Kea (October 15, 2008)
Turning Lunar Dust into Gold (January 8, 2009)
Spotlight on Carnegie-Mellon's Scarab (April 10, 2009)
Mauna Kea hosts space tests (February 7, 2010)
Field testing of In-Situ Resource Utilization (July 1, 2010)
ISRU: NASA KSC prototype rover photo op (June 11, 2012)
KSC shows off Resolve, ISRU and lunar analog study platform (June 13, 2012)
A Resolve to mine the Moon (July 15, 2012)

O Canada! CSA lunar rovers under construction

Peter Visscher, the space and robotics manager at Ontario Drive and
Gear, stands with a chassis for the company's lunar rover project
[Scott Cressman/New Hamburg Independent].

Scott Cressman
New Hamburg Independent

New machines for exploring the moon are taking shape in a workshop at Ontario Drive and Gear, as the New Hamburg company moves closer to its deadline for building new lunar rovers.

Since Ontario Drive and Gear (ODG) was awarded an $11.5 million contract by the Canadian Space Agency in December 2010, the company’s lunar rover project has grown from two staff members to six engineers and technologists.

Located in a back corner of the company’s building on Bleams Road, the team quickly filled its first work area with gears, tangles of exposed wiring, and metal pieces that might have been from a giant puzzle. They expanded into another workshop, then filled that one too.

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) subcontractor developing unmanned lunar rovers

The deadline to produce a high-tech rover is six months away. The project, called Artemis, also spawned a robotic offspring when ODG was contracted to build another smaller rover. That project has been nicknamed “Artemis Junior” by ODG’s space and robotics manager Peter Visscher.

And while the project’s ambitions have grown, the rovers themselves have got smaller. ODG’s first rover prototype, built in 2010, weighed 650 pounds. Visscher and his team have cut that down by building with titanium, which is a third of the weight of steel.

But it’s also more expensive, and the rovers are getting more complicated as new features are added.

The Artemis rover is designed by ODG’s team to be an all-purpose tractor for moon exploration. It could carry astronauts or equipment, or move across the moon’s cold surface by remote control.

Read the full article from the New Hamburg Independent HERE.

Lunar Regolith Challenge, Oct. 17-18

The California Space Authority is hosting the 2009 Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2009 at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. with the California Space Education and Workforce Institute spearheading the event.

Heads-Up to Jack Kennedy @Spaceports

Payette had cookies stolen while in orbit

Julie Payette returns to CSA headquarters to a reception numbering three hundred, welcoming her back after her 16 days stay in orbit an on-board the International Space Station.

Max Harrold
Montreal Gazette

Longueuil — A fellow astronaut stole her maple cookies, and Julie Payette borrowed the only sweater of Canadian crew mate Bob Thirsk while working last month aboard the chilly space shuttle, 350 kilometres above the Earth.

With behind-the-scenes tidbits and off-world snapshots from her history-making, task-packed 16-day mission to space July 15 to 31, Payette commanded everyone’s attention Friday at the Canadian Space Agency’s headquarters on the South Shore.

It was Payette’s first time back at the mothership of Canada’s space program since the mission, and about 300 CSA employees cheered her as they lined the agency’s modest yet soaring atrium.

“Bravo,” CSA head of operations Benoît Marcotte told Payette. “What a superbly successful mission.”

Payette said she was grateful for the team’s efforts. In space, she took a group photo of the Longueuil workers against a porthole with the Earth seen below.

Payette, 45, served as the flight engineer on the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which flew to the International Space Station.

The crew completed the construction of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, also known as the space porch, and installed scientific experiments on it.

Payette didn’t do any of the five spacewalks during the mission, but she played a crucial role at the controls of three robotic arms that grappled equipment stowed in shuttle’s payload bay and then handed it off to another robot arm that then placed it in position with spacewalking astronauts assisting.

Asked if she had any close calls during the robotic operations, Payette said yes.

“I can assure you there usually are when you are handing off pieces of equipment that weigh 600 or 700 pounds and you are bringing them within centimetres of a billion-dollar space station.”

Read the full feature article HERE.

STS-127 Mission Specialist Julie Payette
of the Canadian Space Agency

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, will embark on her second space voyage on-board Endeavour (STS-127), destined for the International Space Station, launching June 13.

On the flight Payette will operate three robotic arms during a "robotics-intense mission," the Shuttle's Canadarm, the ISS Canadarm2 and the JAXA arm on the Kibo module.

"Canadian robotic technology will be used almost every day of this assembly mission," says CSA.

Details on the mission, HERE.