Ep. 119: Robots in Space

Mars Exploration Rover. Image credit: NASA/JPL

Space is totally inhospitable. If the freezing temperatures don't get you, the intense radiation will kill you. Or the vacuum, or the lack of breathable atmosphere, or meteoroid impacts. Well… you get the idea. That's why most space exploration is done by hardy robots. They don't need to eat, drink or breathe. They get their energy from the Sun, and they've proven they've got the right stuff to explore every planet and major moon in the Solar System. Let's hear it for the space robots.

Ep. 119: Robots in Space

Why humans have a hard time surviving in space:

• The human body in vacuum – GSFC
• The human body in space – How Stuff Works

Robotic space missions

• Timeline of missions to the moon –NASA
• Missions to Mars-- JPL

Other Robotics in space

• Space shuttle's Canadarm remote manipulator system -- NASA
• SSRMS — Canadarm 2 and the Mobile Servicing System — NASA
• Comparing the space shuttle robotic arm to the ISS's Canadarm 2 robotic arm
• Dextre, the ISS Robot
• Dextre Vs. Hal – Universe Today

Other Robotic Space missions discussed

• Cassini mission — JPL
• Hubble Space Telescope – NASA
• Hubble's Data Handling System Failure – Universe Today
• Pathfinder Rover — JPL
• Mars Exploration Rover – JPL
• Scientific Equipment on MER – Cornell
• How to Drive the Mars Rovers — Universe Today
• Software Engineering Innovations for MER – JPL
• How the MERs work – How Stuff Works
• Deep Space 1 – NASA
• Europa "Submarine" Prototype Tests – Universe Today
• A Submarine for Europa – Universe Today
• New Horizons Mission – JHU
• Galileo Mission to Jupiter – JPL

Various Equipment/Software Needed for Robotic Missions

• RTG – Wiki
• How Do Solar Panels Supply Energy for Spacecraft? – Northwestern U
• Control Moment Gyroscopes – Wiki
• Space Communications – NASA
• Telecommunications Innovations for the Mars Exploration Rovers — JPL

Robotics Vs. Human Spaceflight

• Robotic Vs. Humans in Space – Astrobiology Magazine
• Manned Vs. Unmanned – PhysOrg.com

1. Mike Cloutier Says:
   December 19th, 2008 at 11:53 pm

   I was surprised to hear you use pounds and weight when describing the Canadarm and the objects it moves.

2. Mark Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am

   Nothing on the Russian Venera probes? They were amazing.

3. Empyre Says:
   January 11th, 2009 at 7:47 am

   I think that they use pounds and weight to describe mass because that is what many in the audience will understand. Just assume that they mean that the object has the amunt of mass that would weigh that much if it were on the surface of the Earth.