January 9, 2011 at 15:16The British plan to create a jumping rover
The Americans were able to create reliable rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which many times extended the estimated time of their operation on Mars. Now the laurels of American engineers haunt developers from other countries who work in the field of space exploration. So, the British proposed their own project of a jumping rover, which, according to the developers, will be able to cover a much greater distance than Spirit and Opportunity. In addition, such a rover, theoretically, will not be afraid of any sand traps and other obstacles that interfere with the American rover. The British project was called the Martian Jumper, Mars Hopper.
"Jump" Mars Hopper will be using jet engines designed for this purpose. One jump will carry the rover to a distance of more than a kilometer (according to information provided by the British, a total of 312 jumps are calculated, covering 530 kilometers). In order to make the spacecraft stable enough, it was decided to equip the Mars Jump with jet engines.
The question arises - where to get fuel for the engine? The British offer an interesting solution - the Martian atmosphere, or rather, carbon dioxide, which is very much in this atmosphere (96%), will provide draft power. Mars Hopper will be equipped with a radioisotope energy source that will provide this energy with an electric pump that draws in carbon dioxide. Further, the gas will be compressed in the pressure tank by an electric pump. The next step is to heat the compressed gas, which should increase jet thrust. According to British experts, this will be enough to complete a kilometer long jump.
Note that the planned mass of the probe will be 400 kilograms, which, you will agree, will allow you to place a large number of scientific equipment on board. In order to prevent the probe from straying or falling into a trap, high-resolution 3D maps of the surface of Mars will be loaded into its memory. This is necessary so that the probe can independently avoid danger, because the transit time of the radio signal between our planets is from 4 to 20 minutes, depending on the relative position of the planets.
Thus, the operator will not be able to help the device avoid danger, in the form of surface irregularities or any other obstacles. And thanks to the loaded map, the device will determine the landing place during the jump on its own, choosing the most suitable site for this.
"Jump" Mars Hopper will be using jet engines designed for this purpose. One jump will carry the rover to a distance of more than a kilometer (according to information provided by the British, a total of 312 jumps are calculated, covering 530 kilometers). In order to make the spacecraft stable enough, it was decided to equip the Mars Jump with jet engines.
The question arises - where to get fuel for the engine? The British offer an interesting solution - the Martian atmosphere, or rather, carbon dioxide, which is very much in this atmosphere (96%), will provide draft power. Mars Hopper will be equipped with a radioisotope energy source that will provide this energy with an electric pump that draws in carbon dioxide. Further, the gas will be compressed in the pressure tank by an electric pump. The next step is to heat the compressed gas, which should increase jet thrust. According to British experts, this will be enough to complete a kilometer long jump.
Note that the planned mass of the probe will be 400 kilograms, which, you will agree, will allow you to place a large number of scientific equipment on board. In order to prevent the probe from straying or falling into a trap, high-resolution 3D maps of the surface of Mars will be loaded into its memory. This is necessary so that the probe can independently avoid danger, because the transit time of the radio signal between our planets is from 4 to 20 minutes, depending on the relative position of the planets.
Thus, the operator will not be able to help the device avoid danger, in the form of surface irregularities or any other obstacles. And thanks to the loaded map, the device will determine the landing place during the jump on its own, choosing the most suitable site for this.