NASA is sending a rover to explore a land somewhat closer to home than usual: Greenland.
Called GROVER (Greenland Rover/Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research), the NASA robot is scheduled for testing on the highest part of Greenland from May 3 to June 8. NASA is sending the robot to Greenland to take measurements in hopes of gaining a better understanding of changes in the ice sheet.
"Robots like GROVER will give us a new tool for glaciology studies," glaciologist at Goddard and science advisor on the project Lora Koenig said.
GROVER will take measurements through radar capable of penetrating the ground and is less costly than the satellites and aircraft typically used for such expeditions. The NASA vehicle weighs around 800 pounds and stands at six feet tall. It features solar panels and travels on two snowmobile tracks. The NASA robot was developed in 2010 and 2011 when teams of students at summer engineering camps at Goddard approached Koenig about the idea of building a rover for icy expeditions. The tank-like robot will move at an average rate of 1.2 mph and should be able to work longer than a human in a snowmobile because of its solar energy storage capabilities.
"Grover is just like a spacecraft but it has to operate on the ground," retired NASA engineer and manager of Goddard's Engineering Boot Camp said. "It has to survive unattended for months in a hostile environment, with just a few commands to interrogate it and find out its status and give it some directions for how to accommodate situations it finds itself in."
Initially, the team will guide Grover through Wi-Fi, later switching to satellite communications so the robot can travel further.
"We think it's really powerful," Gabriel Trisca, a Boise State master's degree student who aided in the development of GROVER's software, said. "The fact is the robot could be anywhere in the world and we'll be able to control it from anywhere."
The NASA robot will be joined by another rover called Cool Robot in June. Cool Robot was developed at Dartmouth College with funding from the National Science Foundation and can tow a large number of instrument packages. In the meantime, the researchers are hoping that GROVER will help them understand snow accumulation in Greenland, which can be used to understand the mass balance of the ice sheet and its implications for the recent rise in sea level.
