The Caves of Mars - Mother Goose Project

The Mother Goose Project

Mother Goose and the Goslings venture into a Martian Cave for a look-see. Image by R.D. "Gus" Frederick

Terrestrial lava tube caves are natural receptacles for accumulations of water. Often, due to lower temperatures coupled with the insulation properties of the surrounding rock, these accumulations are in the form of ice. Locating and cataloging similar features on Mars could be of value for the search for life and in helping to determine past climatic conditions on the Red Planet. Such features may also prove useful in future colonization efforts for shelter and as a potential source of water.

But how to explore them? One unique approach recently proposed employs specialized swarms of insect-like mini-robots accompanying one or more flexible rover/relay station robots. Utilizing a robotic fractal approach that starts with a wide view of a promising area, then zooms in to reveal detail at a series of smaller scales, the approach mimics the actions of a scientist in the field.

One such proposal, the "Mother Goose Mission" was presented to NASA/JPL as part of the Mars Scout mission, planned for the 2006/7 launch window. Mother Goose makes use of a robotically piloted glider that searches for a suitable location from the air, then lands to release the pilot; a six-legged walking robot named Mother Goose. Mother's onboard sensors provide details to supplement the glider's eye view at a smaller scale. For a closer view of small hard to access locations, like a cave entrance or shielded crevasses, Mother releases her "goslings" to explore at an even smaller level. The baby bug-bot goslings return to mother to upload data and recharge their batteries. The multiple redundancy allows for the loss of one or more individuals without dramatically jeopardizing the mission.

Joe Berger and the 5 foot radio-controlled scale model of the Mother Goose glider.

The mission would be brought to Mars by one of the Delta launch vehicles, on a Type II trajectory for aeroshell and parachute entry similar to the Mars Polar Lander approach aimed at a day side location selected for its complex structures as discussed above. Once the aeroshell is released on the dayside of the planet a deployment sequence would inflate with hydrogen a wing shaped balloon which would then glide over the terrain as a lifting body. The instruments on board and the control electronics are powered by a coating of thin film photovoltaics. The balloon structure would provide a low weight and simple deployment approach to a reconnaissance glider.

The glider control surfaces are controlled by the autonomous computer/software system called LEIF (Landing Enabled by Intelligent Functions). LEIF is actually located in the roving robot that acts as the pilot for the glider. The LEIF has built into it a communications system for linking to one or more of the Mars telecom relay equipped orbiters described in the Request for Mars Scout concepts. During the glide which would last several hours, LEIF will, select a landing spot based on a combination of criteria that include hazard avoidance, complex structures nearby, and interesting TES and radar data. The selection methodology will be included as part of the LEIF autonomous control software. The light weight of the glider will allow a very low velocity landing at a selected spot.

Once landed, the LEIF driven Roving Robot will separate itself from the lifting wing and start proceeding to a location finally selected by LEIF from the last aerial approach. As it proceeds toward that location, LEIF, informed by the last aerial data plus new data from the stereo imager, and PIFTS will use its hazard avoidance to dodge rocks, precipices, and walls as it heads toward what appears like a good place to do the close up looks.

Return to the Martian Caves Index