Mobility
LunarLeaper is based on the SpaceHopper design, the result of 4 years of iteration at ETH's Robotic Systems Lab (RSL). The robot only weighs ~10 kg.
Landing site
We want to explore the Marius Hills pit on the near side of the moon, a pit that is thought to be connected to a subsurface hollow lava tube.
Our plan is to land outside the hypothesized extent of the lava tube and traverse it twice, while taking some time at the pit itself.
Instruments
We combine geophysical measurements from the surface with imaging from the pit rim. The geophysical instruments are a gravimeter (GRAV) and a ground penetrating radar (GPR). For the imaging we use our dedicated science camera (SCAM) and hopefully a spectrometer (SPEC). The legs of the rover can be used to to dig in the lunar soil to estimate mechanical propoerties.
Consortium
We build on a team from 5 small ESA member states: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Poland and Luxembourg.
Team
The proposers
Dr. Anna Mittelholz
Principal Investigator
- Lead of the Magnetometer Working Group and member of the leadership team for InSight.
- Involved in mission development for the Mars Helicopter led by JPL.
- Science focus on interior evolution of planets and their magnetic fields, currently as an SNSF Ambizione Fellow at ETH Zurich.
Dr. Simon Stähler
Deputy Principal Investigator
- Lead of the Tectonics working group and member of the leadership team for InSight; Co-Investigator of the BELA instrument on BepiColombo.
- Curriculum director for the new M.Sc. Space Systems at ETH Zürich.
- Science focus on geophysical investigation of tectonic and subsurface processes on planets.
Dr. Hendrik Kolvenbach
Lead Robotics
- PI of Team Glimpse (Winning team of ESA/ESRIC Space Resource Challenge), PI of PLATE - Pilot Lunar Abrasion Experiment for Rashid-1 mission.
- Author of several high-impact publications for legged robots for Planetary Exploration.
- Principal engineer for several legged robots for Planetary Exploration.
Dr. Valentin Bickel
Lead Geology
- Mission Co-I and instrument Co-PI on MBRSC’s Rashid 1 and 2 rovers and involvement in multiple missions such as InSight, VIPER, MRO, Mars Express and TGO.
- Researcher at the Center for Space and Habitability currently as a CSH Fellow.
- Focus on evolution of planetary surfaces across the solar system.
Joe Church
Lead Engineering
- 10 years at NASA GSFC with roles such as Robot Joint Control Electronics lead for OSAM-1 Robot arms, Mechanism Control Electronics lead engineer for Lucy L’Ralph.
- Electrical/Mechanical I&T experience on NASA GEDI, PACE missions.
- Developed Lunar Hazard Detection Lidar “SPLICE”.
Dr. Ozgur Karatekin
Lead Gravimetry
- PI of the GRASS gravimeter and Juventas CubeSat on ESA’s Hera mission.
- Institutional leader on geophysical exploration of small bodies including the Moon.
- Science focus on gravity and planetary geodesy.
Dr. Svein-Erik Hamran
Lead Ground-Penetrating-Radar
- Director of the Center for Space Sensors and Systems at UiO.
- PI of the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment RIMFAX on NASA’s Perseverance Rover and Co-PI on the WISDOM GPR on ESA’s ExoMars rover.
- PhD in GPR and more than 30 years of experience in radar science.
Mentors
Our team is young, motivated and experienced and we have additional expertise in the back...
Prof. Domenico Giardini
Co-PI of the NASA InSight mission
Co-PI of the ESA LISA mission
Prof. Thomas Zurbuchen
Former Associate Administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate
Prof. Marco Hutter
Expert in legged robotic systems
Prof. Miguel Olivares-Mendez
Director of the Space Science Master in Luxembourg, expertise in robotic systems
Prof. Nicolas Thomas
Developed optical instruments for multiple ESA missions (Mars Express, TGO, BepiColombo)
Images by Géraldine Zenhäusern
