Emily McCullough

About

Emily McCullough’s research lies at the intersection of planetary science, robotics, and mission operations, where she focuses on enabling more effective robotic exploration of planetary surfaces. Her most significant contribution is the development of the Network of Reusable Paths (NRP), a novel navigation architecture that allows a mobile robot to accurately return to any previously visited point. This capability fundamentally shifts mission strategy, enabling parallel exploration of multiple scientific targets rather than sequential, linear traverses. Her work, published in a series of papers from 2012, draws critical lessons from analogue deployments at the Sudbury impact structure and Mistastin Lake in Canada—terrestrial analogs for lunar and Martian geology. In her most-cited paper (16 citations), she details a mission control architecture for robotic lunar sample return, field-tested in these harsh environments. McCullough’s research directly addresses the challenge of geologically-focused situational awareness in remote operations, providing a framework for future robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Her contributions are foundational for the next generation of autonomous planetary explorers.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   A Mission Control Architecture for robotic lunar sample return as field tested in an analogue deployment to the sudbury impact structure

   16 citations · 2012
2. 2
   Issues of geologically-focused situational awareness in robotic planetary missions: Lessons from an analogue mission at Mistastin Lake impact structure, Labrador, Canada

   6 citations · 2012
3. 3
   A series of robotic and human analogue missions in support of lunar sample return

   4 citations · 2012
4. 4
   Planetary surface exploration using a network of reusable paths

   4 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links