MARS EXPLORATION ROBOTICS Erick Dupuis (1) , Michael Daly (2) , Paul Fulford (2) , Dale Boucher (3) (1) Canadian Space Agency, 6767 route de l'aéroport, St-Hubert QC, Canada, J3Y 8Y9 E-mail: erick.dupuis@space.gc.ca (2) MD Robotics Limited, 9445 Airport Road, Brampton ON, Canada, L6S 4J3 E-mail: mdaly,pfulford@mdrobotics.ca (3) Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc, 1400 Barrydowne Rd, Sudbury, ON, Canada, P3A 3V8 E-mail: dboucher@norcat.org ABSTRACT Through the development of the Shuttle Remote Manipulators and the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for the International Space Station, Canada will have invested over $1.2 billion dollars in space robotics. Now that many elements of the MSS have been delivered to orbit, one of the next logical steps for Canada to apply its space robotics expertise is planetary exploration. One of the identified planetary exploration needs is to robotically sample the surface and subsurface of Mars. Canada is in the process of negotiating contributions to international Mars exploration missions and is uniquely positioned to address this opportunity due to its world leadership position in mining automation and in space robotics. Advanced technology development was performed to position Canada for such opportunities. A 10-meter class diamond-bit coring drill was developed, prototyped and proven to have reached a Technology Readiness Level of TRL- 4 as per NASA and JPL’s definition. In addition, a family of manipulators for performing a broad variety of tasks on the Martian surface have been designed. A prototype of such a manipulator was built. It is operational in Earth gravity and has undergone functional testing in laboratory conditions. Most of the lessons learned through the development of this manipulator are directly relevant to the development of the sample acquisition, preparation and handling for the MSL mission. INTRODUCTION Through the development of the Shuttle Remote Manipulators and the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for the International Space Station, Canada will have invested over $1.2 billion dollars in space robotics. Now that many elements of the MSS have been delivered to orbit, one of the next logical steps for Canada to apply its space robotics expertise is planetary exploration. One of the identified planetary exploration needs is to robotically sample the surface and subsurface of Mars. Canada is uniquely positioned to address this opportunity due to its world leadership position in mining automation and in space robotics. Opportunities in the near future for these technologies include NASA’s Scout program that is planning to launch a mission to Mars in 2007, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission planned for 2009 and ESA’s Exo-Mars mission under the Aurora program. The exact nature of a potential contribution to NASA’s Scout mission is not yet determined since NASA has not yet announced the winners of the Phase A study. However, Canadian researchers and industry are members of several proposals to NASA. For the MSL mission, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are in the process of finalizing a letter of agreement detailing the nature of Canada’s contributions to the mission. These potential contributions include a subsurface sample acquisition, preparation and distribution system as well as LIDAR sensors for Entry-Descent and Landing, rover navigation, Mars orbit rendezvous and for atmospheric science. In preparation for participation in such opportunities, technology development projects have been ongoing to address issues specific to Mars exploration. This paper will describe the Canadian activities regarding elements of potential Mars missions that are relevant to space robotics, concentrating on subsurface sample acquisition, preparation and handling. 7th ESA Workshop on Advanced Space Technologies for Robotics and Automation 'ASTRA 2002' ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, November 19 - 21, 2002 1