ALI: AUTONOMOUS LUNAR LUNAR INVESTIGATOR, 2010-2015
| Time Frame: | Near-Term, EMS, Long-Duration |
| Environment: | Cold, Dark, Rugged Surface |
| Power: | 10’s Watts, Nuclear Battery |
| Material: | 50 kg, 1m2/kg |
| Locomotion: | Tetrahedral, 10's km/day |
| Challenges: | Long Duration, Cold, Dark Operation to Explore Resources at Lunar Polar Craters |
Structure/Mobility: One or more autonomous 12Tetrahedral Walkers. Rapid (km/day) locomotion with many degrees of freedom for navigation inaccessible, rugged terrain: farside, poles, central peaks, debris fields. Reducible in volume for shipping.
Payload: low mass, volume, active spectrometers to measure abundances of elements, minerals, water
Command and Control Subsystems: autonomous operational modes in response to terrain for destinations selected through a higher level interface
Navigation: Multi-channel laser altimeter comvined with motion and touch sensors at each node
Power Generation Systems: Efficient SPOT Nuclear batteries allow extensive operation in unilluminated terrain.
Dust control: via ion discharge, low dielectric surfaces, sealing of deployment mechanisms
Click here to view an ALI Power Point Presentation.
