Adrian Stoica
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NIAC 2015 Phase I Stoica WindBots Final Report
Description
We envision persistent exploration of the gas giants with robots powered by locally harvested energy, performing in-situ observational atmospheric science. The objective of this study is to develop new mission concepts for in-situ observational atmospheric science on Jupiter and Saturn with persistent high-mobility WindBots, harvesting energy from the strong winds and magnetic fields, and to evaluate the feasibility of WindBots. The study will open new avenues for in-situ atmospheric science missions on gas giants, with high-mobility explorers; which would lead to dramatically better understanding of gas giants; will establish a basis for systematic incorporation of energy-harvesting techniques in the design of planetary robots; and will lead to new concepts of persistent exploration and sensor networks made of smaller/cheaper robots without the nuclear energy overhead.
