MMAE Seminar: Terry Fong

The Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering presents a special seminar given by Terry Fong, chief roboticist at NASA Ames Research Center. Fong will present “The NASA Volatiles Inspecting Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) Mission,” on Friday, October 25, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in room 111 of the Pritzker Science Center.

Abstract

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is a NASA mission designed to explore the extreme environment of the Moon in search of water ice. VIPER is intended to land at the South Pole of the Moon and spend approximately 100 days mapping and surveying four different “ice stability regions.” Determining the distribution, physical state and composition of water ice deposits will help increase understanding the sources of lunar polar water, as well as providing insight into the distribution and origin of volatiles across the solar system. 

In this talk, I will present an overview of the VIPER mission, the rover’s design, lunar surface simulation, and mission operations. During VIPER’s exploration of the Moon, the rover will endure extreme temperature conditions, dynamic lighting and complex terrain, while near-real-time rover driving will present new planetary mission operational challenges. 

Biography

Terry Fong is the chief roboticist at the NASA Ames Research Center and the Deputy Rover Manager for VIPER. Terry previously led development of the Astrobee free-flying robot, which was deployed to the International Space Station in 2019. Terry has published more than 175 papers in space and field robotics, human-robot interaction, virtual reality user interfaces, and planetary mapping. Terry received his B.S. and M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and his Ph.D. in robotics from CMU.