MASCOT - Asteroid Lander with Innvoative Mobility Mechanism

Abstract

The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) is already on its way to the C-type asteroid 1999 JU3. On 3rd December 2014 at 05:22 CEST, a JAXA H IIA launch vehicle lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center and the Hayabusa-II spacecraft together with its MASCOT lander began their journey through space. After a cruise of almost four years, Hayabusa-II with MASCOT will reach their target, where MASCOT will descend to the surface of the asteroid. An innovative hopping mechanism, developed at DLR’s Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC), allows the lander to upright to nominal position and to relocate on asteroid surface by hopping. A big advantage of this movement principle is the independence of the surrounding environments like rocks or craters due to the fact that all moveable parts are inside the lander. The mobility concept was developed based on Multi-Body-System simulation and verified by a zero-g flight test campaign. This paper gives an overview of the mission, the challenges, the development process and the actual status of mobility subsystem. The first checkout after launch was conducted and detailed analysis shows nominal operation.