This Is Not Your Father's Moon Buggy (Forwarded)

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tx. September 6, 2005
281/483-5111

RELEASE: J05-034

This Is Not Your Father's Moon Buggy

When humans return to the Moon and venture beyond, they'll get around
using "smart" rovers that do much more than move cargo.

The single-use rovers of the past will be replaced by multi-use planetary
rovers that are full-fledged members of "EVA squads," humans and robots
working together. The rovers will be able to transport both astronauts and
equipment, follow verbal commands and hand signals, take direction by
wireless remote control, act as communication and video relay stations and
carry extra supplies. They'll even be able to do some work autonomously or
with other robots.

That's the focus of ongoing research by NASA's Science Crew Operations and
Utility Testbed (SCOUT) project. Although lunar rovers were used on three
Apollo missions, significantly expanding the exploration range of the
astronauts, more capable vehicles will be needed to support the build-up,
maintenance and exploration envisioned for prolonged lunar and Martian
surface missions.

The SCOUT rover will be taken for another test drive in September as part
of tests in the Arizona desert near Flagstaff.

Recently, at NASA's Johnson Space Center, spacesuited drivers, astronauts,
operations personnel and engineers put the two-person SCOUT through its
paces in a series of mid-year field tests. The results could help pave the
way for building and maintaining bases, establishing resource depots and
conducting scientific research, said Project Manager Frank Delgado of
JSC's Engineering Automation, Robotics and Simulation Division.

"The rover performed exceptionally well during all modes of operation. We
were able to successfully carry out all our test objectives and learned
valuable information about each of the subsystems," Delgado said. "This
information will allow us to develop a more robust rover with even greater
capabilities."

Experts in automation and robotics, crew accommodations, power systems,
avionics, structures, navigation, software systems, communication systems
and operations developed SCOUT to test advanced technologies and
operations concepts. The rover configuration can transport two suited
astronauts, traverse 10-degree slopes equal to 30-degree slopes on Mars
gravity, drive at speeds up to 7 mph, go over one-foot-tall rocks, and
provide a six-mile driving range.

The recent tests at JSC evaluated SCOUT in all three of its drive modes:
onboard, teleoperation and autonomous. Onboard astronauts can use a
display and control system with joystick ergonomically designed for two
spacesuited astronauts riding in open cockpit seats. Astronauts also can
drive the rover from afar using a teleoperation system that provides
remote operators the same information they would have in the open cockpit.
Or, they could employ an onboard "autopilot" that allows SCOUT to function
with little or no human interaction, driving itself between previously
defined waypoints, avoiding obstacles and using a stereo vision system to
track and follow a nearby astronaut.

The upcoming tests in the high desert of Arizona will evaluate SCOUT's
autonomous and semi-autonomous capabilities, try out different cockpit
designs for space-suited operators and develop a way to recharge spacesuit
breathing air, batteries and cooling water on the move.

Future enhancements to the rover will be developed using new ideas for
intelligent software, crew accommodations, operations models, portable
power solutions, communication technologies and in-situ processing.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov