NASA develops new type of explorer rover

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it and the California Institute of Technology have designed and tested a versatile, low-mass robot that can rappel off cliffs.

The prototype rover, called Axel, can also travel efficiently over steep and rocky terrain, as well as explore deep craters. Officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said. Axel might also help future robotic spacecraft better explore and investigate foreign worlds such as Mars, while on Earth Axel might assist in search-and-rescue operations.

"Axel extends our ability to explore terrains that we haven't been able to explore in the past, such as deep craters with vertically sloped promontories," said the project's principal investigator Issa Nesnas of JPL's robotics and mobility section.

Officials said Axel, which can operate upside down and right side up, uses only three motors -- one to control each of its two wheels and a third to control a lever. The lever contains a scoop to gather lunar or planetary material for scientists to study, and it also adjusts the robot's two stereo cameras.

Nesnas co-leads the project with Caltech Professor Joel Burdick, who supervises the Caltech students working on the rover system.

Last fall, the JPL-Caltech team demonstrated Axel at the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, which showcased NASA for the agency's 50th anniversary.