The Mars Society’s latest publication, “Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design: New Ways to Explore Mars”, a 152-page paperback / e-book published by Polaris Books and edited by Frank Crossman, is now available for purchase online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
In January 2022, the Mars Society announced the holding of an international contest – Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition – for the best design plan of diverse teams of specialized robots using a 10-metric ton Mars lander, an essential requirement for any human Mars exploration mission. Contest planning requirements focused on engineering design, mission cost, science return, exploration preparation, and schedule.
Systems were demonstrated by using expeditions consisting of platoons of robots, including wheeled or treaded ground rovers, helicopters, airplanes, balloons, or other types of flight vehicles, and legged robots, including those in humanoid, cat-like, or insectoid forms. Missions of this type could return scientific bonanzas while also preparing Mars landing sites for human arrival.
With over 20 teams having participated in the 2022 contest, six groups from around the world that submitted the best overall telerobotic expedition designs were announced during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention in October, with those winners designated to have their plans incorporated into the new publication.
“The book has six team designs of the coordinated efforts of several distinct types of robots (flyers, four-legged walking, wheeled and tracked) that reach Mars in a 10-ton payload via a powered landing to the surface. The robot platoons are deployed to gather critical information that will pave the way for future human missions, but they also conduct their own science experiments.
“Four of the six designs include advanced analysis tools to search for microbial life on Mars. One design uses VR to tele-robotically coordinate and drive the robot platoons from Earth. Another one coordinates over a hundred flying robots and two-dozen walking robots carried in robot transporters to explore lava tubes for future human habitation,” said Mr. Crossman.
Obtain your copy of “Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design” today via Amazon or Barnes & Noble and prepare yourself for an extraordinary journey on how humanity can use robotics to greatly increase the exploration of the Red Planet and lay the groundwork for human bases and settlement on Mars.
For more details about the Mars Society, its mission, programs, and publications, please visit: marssociety.org.
