2021 Symposium for Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

For over half a century, NASA has been utilizing technology to further our understanding of space. Our research involves examining the various kinds of rovers, robots, and rotorcrafts that have been critical to the success of NASA's past, present, and future missions. We will examine the hopping robot Sparrow, rotorcrafts like Ingenuity, and Dragonfly, and the many Martian rovers. Not only are these new technologies being used for exploration and discovery, but there are also robots being developed to aid the planet in case of extinction level catastrophes. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission and Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) are tests to create a robot that would be able to protect Earth from asteroids that could potentially crash into it. These robots are designed to be able to change the motion of an asteroid heading towards Earth. Radiation hazards are detrimental to human life and this is where robots will play a major role. The pros outweigh the cons in most scenarios. The objective of this research is to show the benefits of space exploration through robotic means. This will be done by looking at some of Nasa's current and future autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. By researching them the group hopes to make the case that robots are a safer option due to human limitations and a smarter option when it comes to exploring more difficult terrains. By researching the papers published by NASA on the engineering hardware and science behind these missions, we could determine their cost effectiveness.