PSI Scientist Describes Wind-Driven Rovers in Chapter of New Mars Book

Jan. 11, 2010 - Wind-driven research platforms that could roll like tumbleweeds across the surface of Mars are the subject of a 38-page book chapter written by Kim Kuhlman and her colleagues.

Kuhlman, a senior scientist with the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, is the lead author on "Tumbleweed: A New Paradigm for Surveying the Surface of Mars for In-situ Resources." The chapter appears in "Mars: Prospective Energy and Materials Resources," published today by Springer Publishing Co.

Tumbleweeds are lightweight, inexpensive vehicles that can carry a variety of instruments and cover large swaths of terrain as winds push them across the landscape. They are designed to bridge the gap between large-scale surveys done by orbital platforms and intensive, small-scale research conducted by rovers, Kuhlman said.

The vehicles, some of which resemble beach balls on steroids, are based on well-developed and tested technology, Kuhlman added.

An inflatable Tumbleweed was tested in Greenland in 2003 and in Antarctica in 2004 by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The latest version, deployed in Greenland in 2004, covered more than 200km across an ice sheet on a four-day run. During that time, it communicated via the Iridium satellite network to a ground station at the JPL. The Tumbleweed gathered data on temperature, pressure, and its GPS location.

Since Tumbleweeds are light and relatively inexpensive, several could fly on one mission, and they could hitch rides on larger missions, she noted.

Other scientists who contributed to the chapter include: Alberto Behar, Jack Jones, Max Coleman and Daniel W. Wilson, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Penelope Boston, of New Mexico Tech; Jeffrey Antol, Gregory Hajos and Warren Kelliher, of NASA Langley Research Center; Ronald Crawford, of the University of Idaho; Lynn Rothschild, of the NASA-Ames Research Center; Martin Buehler, of Decagon Devices; and Greg Bearman, of Snapshot Spectra.

The Planetary Science Institute is a private, nonprofit corporation founded in 1972 and dedicated to solar system exploration. It is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.

PSI scientists are involved in numerous NASA and international missions, the study of Mars and other planets, the Moon, asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, impact physics, the origin of the solar system, extra-solar planet formation, dynamics, the rise of life, and other areas of research. They conduct fieldwork in North America, Australia and Africa. They also are actively involved in science education and public outreach through school programs, children's books, popular science books and art.

The Institute's researchers are based in 15 states, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Switzerland and Australia.