MMX - Development of a Rover Locomotion System for Phobos

Abstract

MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) is a robotic sample return mission of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), CNES (Centre National d' Etudes Spatiales), and DLR (German Aerospace Center) with the launch planed for 2024. The mission aims to answer the question of the origin of Phobos and Deimos, which will also help to understand the material transport in the earliest period of our solar system, and of how was water brought to Earth. Besides JAXA's MMX mothership, which is responsible for sampling and sample return to Earth, a small rover which is built by CNES and DLR to land on Phobos for in-situ measurements, similar to MASCOT (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout) on Ryugu. The MMX rover is a four-wheel driven autonomous system with a size of 41 cm × 37 cm × 30 cm and a weight of approximately 25 kg. Multiple science instruments and cameras are integrated in the rover body. The rover body has the form of a rectangular box. Attached at the sides are four legs with one wheel per leg. When the rover is detached from the mothership, the legs are folded together at the side of the rover body. When the rover has landed passively (no parachute or braking rockets) on Phobos, the legs are autonomously maneuvered to bring the rover in an upright orientation. One Phobos day lasts 7.65 earth hours, which yields about 300 extreme temperature cycles for the total mission time of three earth months. These cycles and the wide span of surface temperature between day and night are the main design drivers for the rover. This paper gives a detailed view on the development of the MMX rover locomotion subsystem.