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Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 7/97 GERMAN SCIENTISTS DEVELOP MARS VEHICLE by Wolfdietrich Hoeveler The smallest vehicle for operations on the Mars or other planets or moons was developed by the German Aerospace Research Institute (DLR) in Cologne-Porz together with other partner companies. DLR was tasked in 1995 by ESA to build the vehicle. Today, the small and robust MIDD-Rover (Mobile Instrument Deployment Device) is driving successfully over the replicated Mars surface at the Cologne DLR institute for space simulation under the supervision of DLR project manager Lutz Richter. DLR's Rover is a real Mini and is no bigger than a shoe box (40 x 25 x 20 cm). Approximately 1,5 kg of the vehicles total weight of 5 kg is made up by six instruments, mainly spectrometers. One of the instruments is designed to take samples, heat them in a small oven and analyze the developing gases with a gas-phase chromatograph. The objective of the DLR works is to achieve a payload-vehicle relation of 1:1 for future comparable vehicles. According to institute head Professor Berndt Feuerbacher, only very small research vehicles will have a chance in the long-term. First, because the cost for the launch is lower: "Today, the launch of one kilogram of payload into a geostationary orbit costs approximately 50000 US dollars. For Mars flights this is to be multiplied by the factor ten." Secondly, the risks are reduced by the redundancy generated by a large fleet of small vehicles, explains Feuerbacher. The MIDD-Rover was specifically designed for a mission on the Mars surface with temperatures of minus 120 degrees centigrade and a strong dust development. The vehicle has a supposed life-time of 200 days, giving a total of 50 hours driving time at a speed of 1 mm per second. Several measuring spots are to be covered in 290 traverses, each two meters in length. The Rover gets its steering signals via a 60-meter cable which also ensures the vehicle's energy supply and the data transfer to the launch probe. Since the MIDD Rover must be able to circumnavigate obstacles (only rocks with a diameter of 5 to 10 centimeters are surmountable), it is controlled from the earth and in order to cope with the 20-minute delay in the data transfer between Earth and Mars a computer program is used. The cost for the MIDD-Rover amount to approximately DM1,5 to 2 million which are almost entirely generated from ESA. There are no specific missions for the Rover planned yet. Still, ESA plans to apply with the vehicle for the NASA Robotic mission in 2001. From page 43 of FLUG REVUE 7/97 Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 7/97 Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated June 4, 1997