Caroline Lange
Papers
8
Total Citations
73
H-Index
5
About
Caroline Lange is a space systems engineer and planetary exploration researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, lunar science, and mission design. She is best known for her central role in the ROBEX (Robotic Exploration under Extreme Environments) alliance, an ambitious German initiative developing autonomous robotic technologies for deployment in extreme environments — from the deep sea to the lunar surface. Her most-cited work (25 citations) documents the landmark 2017 analog mission campaign on Mount Etna, where a complex robotic system was field-validated as a surrogate for future lunar seismic network deployments, demonstrating the feasibility of highly autonomous planetary surface operations. Beyond ROBEX, Lange has contributed to the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT), a DLR-developed lander carried aboard JAXA's Hayabusa-2 mission to asteroid Ryugu, showcasing her breadth across planetary mission concepts. Her research consistently champions modular, low-cost mission architectures that maximize science return — an approach reflected across her publication record. With contributions spanning mission engineering, power systems analysis, and robotic deployment validation, Lange's work has meaningfully advanced the technical readiness for the next generation of robotic lunar and small-body exploration missions.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5Nanoscale landers and instrument carriers: enhancing larger mission's science return by investing in low cost solutions: the MASCOT‐1 to X and ROBEX examples5 citations · 2015
- 6
- 7
- 8First Results from the ROBEX Demonstration Mission on Mt. Etna: A modular lunar architecture deployed to perform seismic experiments on a volcano as terrestrial validation of a lunar mission scenario2 citations · 2017