Development of a Mobility Drive Unit for Low Gravity Planetary Body Exploration

Abstract

The 10 kg asteroid lander package MASCOT (mobile asteroid surface scout), developed by DLR, is a contribution to the JAXA Hayabusa-II mission, intended to be launched in 2014. MASCOT will provide in-situ surface science at several sites on the C-type asteroid 1999 JU3. An innovative hopping mechanism, developed at the Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC) in Oberpfaffenhofen, allows the lander to upright to nominal position for measurements as well as to relocate by hopping. The mechanism concept considers the uncertain and harsh environment conditions on the asteroid surface by using the impulse of an eccentric mass with all rotating parts completely inside the MASCOT structure. The paper gives an overview of the major development activities which lead to a new promising powerful and scalable drive system for low gravity planetary body exploration.