ROBOTS IN-SPACE - US MISSIONS AND TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS INTO THE NEXT CENTURY

The Telerobotics Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis tration (NASA) Office of Space Science is developing innovative telero botics technologies to enable or support a wide range of space mission s over the next decade and beyond. These technologies fall into four c ore application areas: landers, surface vehicles (revers), and aeroveh icles for solar system exploration and science; revers for commerciall y supported lunar activities; free-flying and platform-attached robots for in-orbit servicing and assembly; and robots supporting in-orbit b iotechnology and microgravity experiments. Such advanced robots will e nable missions to explore Mars, Venus, and Saturn's moon Titan, as wel l as probes to sample comets and asteroids. They may also play an impo rtant role in commercially funded exploration of large regions on Eart h's Moon, as well as the eventual development of a human-supporting Lu nar Outpost. In addition, in-orbit servicing of satellites and mainten ance of large platforms like the International Space Station will requ ire extensive robotics capabilities.