Subsurface Prospecting by Planetary Drones

The immediate markets within NASA are for exploration and science missions to surface destinations on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. The proposed innovations in guidance improve mission capability by enhancing landing and flying precision; enabling access to previously inaccessible terrain; providing accurate autonomous target-relative navigation; modeling a target onboard a spacecraft; and providing a flight-ready, power efficient solution to TRN. Potential applications to NASA include: (1) Resource Prospector Mission, currently in Phase A with a target launch in 2019, has a $250M budget reserved. Science return is dependent on landing in an identified region with high volatile content and near regions of permanent dark. Polar terrain on the Moon is hazardous and lighting varies locally, so precise landing relative to terrain is exceptionally important. (2) The Mars Science Lab (total project budget of $2.5B with ~$550M expended on operations ) and Mars 2020 (budget $1.5B ). The technology developed by this research could enhance landing precision and enable landing at the location of highest value, enhancing mission science return. (3) At least six planned NASA missions – Asteroid Redirect, Comet Surface Sample Return, Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return, Lunar Geophyisical Network, Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (Max C), and Venus In-Situ explorer – could be enhanced by this technology.

Astrobotic's proposed approach to reaching other commercial markets is to target the most likely candidates for market acceptance and profitability in Phase I and Phase II, particularly UAV application for defense and surveying. This technology may also be used for the detection of poisonous and explosive gases and flammable dust in mines; surveying urban canyons; and exploring bunkers and caves. More »