Magazine Article

Advanced Aerobots for Scientific Exploration

TBMG-8166

07/01/2010

Abstract
Content

The Picosat and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Systems Engineering (PAUSE) project is developing balloon-borne instrumentation systems as aerobots for scientific exploration of remote planets and for diverse terrestrial purposes that can include scientific exploration, mapping, and military surveillance. The underlying concept of balloon-borne gondolas housing outer-space-qualified scientific instruments and associated data-processing and radio-communication equipment is not new. Instead, the novelty lies in numerous design details that, taken together, make a PAUSE aerobot smaller, less expensive, and less massive, relative to prior aerobots developed for similar purposes: Whereas the gondola (including the instrumentation system housed in it) of a typical prior aerobot has a mass of hundreds of kilograms, the mass of the gondola (with instrumentation system) of a PAUSE aerobot is a few kilograms.

Meta TagsDetails
Citation
"Advanced Aerobots for Scientific Exploration," Mobility Engineering, July 1, 2010.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Jul 1, 2010
Product Code
TBMG-8166
Content Type
Magazine Article
Language
English