A pressurized rover for early lunar exploration

Abstract

Tbris paper examines the concept of placing a rover on the Moon as one of the first elements in the Prresident'p Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The co:ncept, called Rover First, initially serves as a teleoperated explorer and test bed for hardware development. During subsequent manned visits the vehicle is used to provide astronauts with a shirtslepve environment and the radiation protectrion necessary for extended surface exploration. Iletween the piloted missions, the rover is controlled from Earth and continues to serve in a dual (teleoperated and piloted) mode throughout permanent base development. A method to implement an early, low-cost program based on proven systems is presented.

Design of Power Systems for Extensible Surface Mobility Systems on the Moon and Mars

“…A concept of a two astronaut pressurized rover called MOLAB (MObile LABoratory) was studied and suggested under a NASA contract to Boeing [1]. Two different pressurized rover concepts were proposed by the reports from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) operated NASA/USRA University Advanced Design Program.…”

Exploration Rover Concepts and Development Challenges

“…Using this analyses as a reference, Boeing updated their pressurized rover concept in 1992. 12 This concept, dubbed "Rover First," is smaller than the traditional pressurized rovers, and does not require a separate landing vehicle. Rover First lands on its wheels.…”

“…• Dynamic Analysis and Design System (DADS) 12 -Program to perform dynamic analysis of rover structure with digital terrain model.…”

“…• Extraterrestrial Off-road MODeler (EXOMOD) 12 -Computer analysis tool used for determining key design parameters for rover wheels, drive-motors, and mobility dimensions. -Sizing algorithm to determine vehicle pressure structure configuration and mass.…”