Autonomous Mars ISRU Robotic Excavation: Characteristics and Performance Targets

Abstract

Characteristic hardware concepts and performance targets are described for a potential robotic excavation system that can operate and robotically maintain itself without regular human intervention. In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)is the exploitation of available resources at the site of a landed spacecraft on the surface of another planetary body. This can include harvesting of atmosphere, regolith, or rock for direct use (e.g. as radiation or micrometeorite shielding)or for separation/purification (e.g. for propellant production). The objective of this study is to try to identify a potential ISRU architecture, specifically for extracting water from hydrated minerals identified from orbital multispectral imaging on Mars, which can be implemented in an affordable way. By its nature this architecture must incorporate not only all the conventional excavate / scoop / haul/dump / process functions of a terrestrial mining operation on Earth, but also the sorts of maintenance and repair capabilities which any terrestrial mining operation would require in order to stay operational for an extended duration. The early concepts described in this study are intended for Mars, but also can be adaptable to lunar and other solar system planetary bodies.