[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5837\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E100-year mission into interstellar space\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists in France are getting ready to make a prototype of a highly efficient nuclear-powered electricity generator which has no moving parts, making it much more reliable than current technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is one of a handful of European research projects that are pushing forward the boundaries of space exploration technology, from computer models that can predict the effect of solar radiation, to technology that provides enough power for a mission into deep space, or landing on and exploring the surface of an alien world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We are at the beginning of a new technology, a technological breakthrough,\u2019 said Professor Maurice-Xavier Fran\u00e7ois, coordinator of the SPACE TRIPS research project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We envisage at the moment probe (missions) of a hundred years ... but that\u0027s not possible today. It will be possible tomorrow,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy comparison Voyager 1, the furthest spacecraft from earth, will stop sending data back by around 2020 as it runs out of power, some 40 years after its launch in 1977.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo achieve the levels of extended power foreseen by Prof. Fran\u00e7ois, scientists at SPACE TRIPS are developing a highly efficient generator that uses a conductive fluid that moves into a magnetic chamber. That means it has no moving parts and is therefore less likely to malfunction than the piston-driven system being developed in similar highly efficient nuclear generators in the United States, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe fact that the SPACE TRIPS generator is so reliable means it could be scaled up, and even used to power a colony on Mars, for example. \u2018We could think of much bigger systems for electricity on Mars,\u2019 said Prof. Fran\u00e7ois. \u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We are at the beginning of a new technology, a technological breakthrough.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Maurice Xavier Fran\u00e7ois, the coordinator of SPACE TRIPS\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobot teams\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA colony on Mars could be pre-prepared by teams of collaborating robots before humans arrive, or robots could work together to safely explore the surface of a planet while humans remain in orbit overhead, according to Dr Thomas V\u00f6gele, coordinator of FASTER, a project which is developing a system of two coordinating space rovers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I am convinced that robotic exploration will be the solution of the future,\u2019 he said, because of the difficulty of landing an astronaut on a planet and bringing the astronaut back afterwards. He believes that one robot would not be versatile enough for a complex mission such as one to bring samples back from another planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe works at the Robotics Innovation Center of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, which specialises in robot development and robot cooperation. \u2018We developed a feasibility study for a robot team, a larger rover that can carry a linked, smaller rover to the edge of a moon crater, for example, so the smaller rover can walk down in the moon crater, get a sample and come up.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FASTER project is working on a \u2018scout\u2019 system equipped with miniaturized soil-testing sensors where a smaller planetary rover checks the ground ahead of a main mission rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The scout rover is not a mission-critical component, so even if the scout rover gets lost, the other rover can go ahead as planned,\u2019 said Dr V\u00f6gele, a geologist and computer scientist.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe scout rover works because it is much lighter, and has specially developed wheels which are similar to the spokes of an old-style cartwheel with the rim removed. That means the rover has less chance of getting stuck while crossing the rocky terrain of a planet like Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a significant problem for scientists - NASA\u2019s Mars rover Spirit\u0026nbsp;got stuck in late 2009, and scientists lost communication with it a few months later.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022img_legend\u0022 style=\u0022float: left;\u0022\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022An artists\u2019s impression of the scout rover being developed by FASTER. Image courtesy of FASTER, background image courtesy of NASA\u0022 height=\u0022133\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Mars%20rovers.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022An artists\u2019s impression of the scout rover being developed by FASTER. Image courtesy of FASTER, background image courtesy of NASA\u0022 width=\u0022200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EAn artists\u2019s impression of the scout rover being developed by FASTER. Image courtesy of FASTER, background image courtesy of NASA\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003Cem\u003EAn artists\u2019s impression of the scout rover being developed by FASTER. Image courtesy of FASTER, background image courtesy of NASA\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FASTER\u0026nbsp;project plans to have a prototype of the scout rover and sensor system ready for testing by the end of next year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology could be included in ExoMars, a planned European robotic mission to look for signs of life on Mars which could launch a rover mission in 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReal-time models\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the most important parts of a space mission is the planning, and much of that is done by using computer models which can predict things like the effects of the solar wind on the magnetic field of planets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe European research programme IMPEx is working on an integrated tool that will allow comparatively simple analytic models to be run in real time, but also complicated models to be stored in a repository so that users can look through a library of modelled scenarios.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you need to make a technological decision or mission management decision, you need a really fast model,\u2019 said Dr Maxim Khodachenko, coordinator of the IMPEx project, which is developing a way to integrate data from different computer models with observational data from space missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The model will be able to predict how the overall environment changes in response to the change in the solar wind parameters, for example if a magnetic cloud comes and collides with the planet,\u2019 said Dr Khodachenko.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, mission managers on earth can\u2019t always take direct control of a spacecraft as it can take too long for the signal to arrive. It would take nearly 16 hours for a signal from Voyager 1 to reach earth, for example, meaning that 100-year interstellar missions would need to be able to make autonomous decisions, as would a team of rovers on a planetary surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The question of course is how much autonomy these robots will have in the future and how much will be remote controlled from a control station,\u2019 said FASTER\u2019s Dr V\u00f6gele. \u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003ESnake robot on Mars\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Norwegian SINTEF research organisation have developed a snake robot to see if it would work as part of a mission to Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is that the robot operates alongside a rover vehicle \u2013 collecting samples from hard-to-reach locations and even coiling around a rock to act as an anchor if the rover needs to pull itself free.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018One option is to make the robot into one of the vehicle\u2019s arms, with the ability to disconnect and reconnect itself, so that it can be lowered to the ground, where it can crawl about independently,\u2019 said Aksel Transeth, a researcher at SINTEF who was involved in developing the robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information, watch the\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded\u0026amp;v=U8pzRB9kS_0\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E video\u003C\/a\u003E courtesy of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotnor.no\/research\/serpentine-robots-for-planetary-exploration-serpex\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EROBOTNOR\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-gvnf59yagjaughyryknvtt4ubslokyr1zogti3q6jf0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-gVNf59yaGJAuGHyryknVtT4UbslOkyr1ZOGtI3q6Jf0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]