Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance Missions For The Autonomous Exploration Of Planetary Bodies

Abstract

Abstract-A fundamentally new (scientific) reconnaissance mission concept, termed tier-scalable reconnaissance, for remote planetary (including Earth) atmospheric, surface and subsurface exploration recently has been devised [1][2][3][4][5] that soon will replace the engineering and safety constrained mission designs of the past, allowing for optimal acquisition of geologic, paleohydrologic, paleoclimatic, and possible astrobiologic information of Venus, Mars, Europa, Ganymede, Titan, Enceladus, Triton, and other extraterrestrial targets [6,7]. This paradigm is equally applicable to potentially hazardous or inaccessible operational areas on Earth such as those related to military or terrorist activities, or areas that have been exposed to biochemical agents, radiation, or natural disasters. Traditional missions have performed local, ground-level reconnaissance through rovers and immobile landers, or global mapping performed by an orbiter. The former is safety and engineering constrained, affording limited detailed reconnaissance of a single site at the expense of a regional understanding, while the latter returns immense datasets, often overlooking detailed information of local and regional significance.

Tier-scalable reconnaissance: the future in autonomous C4ISR systems has arrived: progress towards an outdoor testbed

“…and at the University of Arizona (2009 -present) has devised a NASA award-winning (NASA Board Award 2009), widely publicized, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and Caltech-patented [16][17][18] mission paradigm, termed Tier-scalable Reconnaissance (TSR), as the foundation for autonomous C 4 ISR systems of the future. Originally devised for autonomous robotic space exploration of planetary surfaces, the tier-scalable reconnaissance paradigm integrates multi-tier (space, atmosphere, surface, subsurface) and multi-agent hierarchical mission architectures (Fig.…”

Automated Global Feature Analyzer - A Driver for Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance

“…First, the science craft must be aware of the context it is in. [1][2][3] (Fig. 8), containing geologic, structural, and erosional information, combined with AGFA capabilities could help unravel complex geologic histories at local, regional, and global scales that can be readily updated with information obtained from future tier-scalable reconnaissance missions (Fig.…”

“…AGFA is currently undergoing field testing aboard groundbased robotic platforms (Fig. 9) [4,5] and will be tested in the near future aboard airborne platforms, such as helicopters and blimps, as part of the tier-scalable reconnaissance mission test bed at Caltech [4]. As for the spaceborne perspective, AGFA will be tested on satellite and orbiter imagery, and for a close-up (microscopic) ground perspective, it will be tested on microscopic images, such as those delivered by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity (e.g., [26]).…”

“…Figure 9. 4WD remote controllable robotic platform as a representative mobile ground-tier agent of the tierscalable reconnaissance mission test bed at Caltech (from [4,5] …”

Attitudes towards Autonomous Data Collection and Analysis in the Planetary Science Community

“…This approach can be utilized to control the operations of a network of heterogeneous craft [29] like those proposed in [30][31][32][33]. The combination of the finding driven goal generation and goal based autonomous control could prospectively lead to lower-cost, lower human operational involvement science missions.…”