Session
Technical Session III: Advanced Technologies I
Abstract
The spinning lander is a novel concept for safely landing and hopping on unimproved surfaces virtually anywhere in the solar system. It was first conceived in the early 1960s by satellite industry pioneer Harold Rosen, but not applied to an actual mission design until 2007-2008 as a Google Lunar XPRIZE team entry. Key to this new lander concept is the dual-spin spacecraft system approach developed and matured by Rosen and his Hughes Space & Communications, Inc. team starting in the late 1960s—a simple, scalable spacecraft architecture which dominated the communications satellite arena for nearly 25 years. Rosen’s GLXP entry featured a compelling spinning lander design which was small, simple, elegant and low-cost. The overall spinning lander concept has been patented and is now being further developed and marketed by Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation. Assessments of various spinning lander concepts for solar system exploration were conducted by Ecliptic during 2010-2011, and by Ecliptic and JPL during 2011-2012. Since 2013, increased popularity of the CubeSat standard for deep-space mission applications has encouraged investigation of CubeSat-class spinning landers, especially for lunar missions. This paper summarizes the genesis, development, advantages and mission applications of the spinning lander concept and highlights recent CubeSat-class studies.
Presentation
Small Spinning Landers for Solar System Exploration Missions
The spinning lander is a novel concept for safely landing and hopping on unimproved surfaces virtually anywhere in the solar system. It was first conceived in the early 1960s by satellite industry pioneer Harold Rosen, but not applied to an actual mission design until 2007-2008 as a Google Lunar XPRIZE team entry. Key to this new lander concept is the dual-spin spacecraft system approach developed and matured by Rosen and his Hughes Space & Communications, Inc. team starting in the late 1960s—a simple, scalable spacecraft architecture which dominated the communications satellite arena for nearly 25 years. Rosen’s GLXP entry featured a compelling spinning lander design which was small, simple, elegant and low-cost. The overall spinning lander concept has been patented and is now being further developed and marketed by Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation. Assessments of various spinning lander concepts for solar system exploration were conducted by Ecliptic during 2010-2011, and by Ecliptic and JPL during 2011-2012. Since 2013, increased popularity of the CubeSat standard for deep-space mission applications has encouraged investigation of CubeSat-class spinning landers, especially for lunar missions. This paper summarizes the genesis, development, advantages and mission applications of the spinning lander concept and highlights recent CubeSat-class studies.
