Proposal of tiny rover payloads for the recent solar system exploration missions

抄録

Tiny payloads deployable from solar system exploration spacecraft are recently fascinated all over the world because they provide an additional benefit in low cost and resource. This framework was initially explored by MINERVA rover developed by the authors. The rover less than 1kg of the mass was installed in Hayabusa mission launched in 2003 in order to enable the surface exploration on the target asteroid. Currently there are several missions heading for the Moon, Mars, and the small solar system bodies, and the authors have been proposed an inclusion of tiny rovers in these missions. This paper describes our activities on the tiny rover as an additional payload for the recent solar system exploration missions.