LunaVeR

Proposal: A Lunar uncrewed vehicle for surface exploration and site survey operations. Rationale: It has been earlier studied Lunar exploration could be well-served by aerial surveys of interesting locations on the Moon. With no atmosphere to really speak of on the Moon, it would be necessary to likely use some sort of "hopper" configuration, wherein a survey vehicle would launch itself on ballistic trajectories of relatively low altitude and evaluate the landscape passing by below. This sort of hopper concept is not in itself new, but it also has not been tried. The possibility of transporting and deploying such an exploration drone is now, in my opinion, much more likely than in previous years, and open to private implementation. Discussion Point: I am personally working through self-training on drone operation, in support of this possible line of inquiry and others possibly served by drone operations of this kind. Terrestrial quadcopter operation is not a direct analog for the physical realities of an airless environment, but would point to the development of logistics for a hopper exploration program. Disciplines needed, subject to revision: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Control System Design

Similar to CubeSats https://www.astrobotic.com/2017/5/4/astrobotic-to-develop-cuberover-standard-for-planetary-surface-mobility (http://https://www.astrobotic.com/2017/5/4/astrobotic-to-develop-cuberover-standard-for-planetary-surface-mobility)