Astrobotic Blog

PITTSBURGH, PA – April 23, 2012 – Astrobotic Technology Inc. today announced a NASA contract to determine whether its polar rover can deploy an ice-prospecting payload to the Moon. The ice could yield water, oxygen, methane and rocket propellant to dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration.

“Astrobotic seeks the immense resources available on the Moon to both accelerate space exploration and improve life on Earth,” said David Gump, president. “The lunar path is near term. We intend a prospecting mission in 2015.”

Serial mid-course corrections direct any spacecraft to approximate a pre-computed cruise trajectory. An iterative series of corrective rocket thrusts hone in on a desired trajectory. In the case of a moon-lander, a quality cruise trajectory is essential for precise orbit insertion. Although an ideal trajectory can be pre-computed, the corrections must be planned and implemented during flight. There are two primary errors for each correction. One error is the imperfection in estimation the spacecraft's location.

Variations of materials, layup techniques and process variations affect carbon fiber composite strength, so samples are tested to determine bulk properties. This video conveys testing in action. Figure 1 shows several strips after pulling to failure, and Figure 2 shows a strip in the tensile test instrument.