By Joseph L. Flatley
2010 posted October 5th 2: 04 pm
the Mars Rover, the self-propelled, solar powered box o' sensors 'n stuff, the slow inches along the surface (and battles the violent environment) of the red planet may be a mainstay of space exploration, but it is certainly not the only way to get the job done. For example, the children at Draper Labs are - last seen in this room with its injectable Nano sensor - the process of development of vehicles leaving the (literally) traditional Rover in the dust. Draper hopper prototype is designed with an impeller drive system that is used to nitrogen, 25 miles in a few days or, preferably, a couple of hours cover it compressed. Comparison, NASA's spirit and opportunity craft have about twenty miles since early 2004 covered hit the surface of Mars. Of course the hoppers must bring fuel with you, so their life is cut dramatically shorter than your wheel-based contemporaries, but we always believed more autonomous vehicles should "live fast / die young," such as SID vicious or James Dean. With any luck, we should see to test flights by January 2011.
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