Stephanie Newdick

Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, Stanford University

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About

Stephanie Newdick is a robotics researcher pioneering the exploration of extreme planetary environments, with a focus on locomotion and manipulation for subterranean terrains. Her primary research areas include climbing robot design, motion planning under uncertainty, and system architecture for space missions. Newdick’s major contribution is the development of ReachBot, a novel robot that uses extendable booms as limbs to navigate caves and lava tubes on the Moon and Mars—sites of high astrobiological interest but inaccessible to traditional rovers. Her most-cited work, “Locomotion as manipulation with ReachBot” (2024, 19 citations), redefines mobility by treating movement as a form of manipulation, enabling traversal of unpredictable rocky surfaces. In “Motion Planning for a Climbing Robot with Stochastic Grasps” (2023, 9 citations), she addresses the challenge of planning adaptive grasps in variable terrain. Her 2023 paper on system design for a Martian lava tube mission showcases a trade-study methodology to optimize robot architecture for adverse gravity. Newdick’s work has direct implications for NASA’s planetary exploration goals, and her concept of operations for the MELT mission (2024) outlines a path toward in-situ astrobiological analysis. Her research bridges robotics, geology, and astrobiology, positioning her as a key innovator in extraterrestrial exploration.