As the Curiosity rover continues its historic mission on Mars's surface and talks of a manned mission to the red planet circulate among astronomers, a group of researchers have been quietly busying themselves designing a unique robot called a "hedgehog" that will explore the Martian moon Phobos.
The odd box shaped spacecraft is covered in spikes in order to help it move on Mars's closest orbiting moon which astronomers say has almost no gravity. The hedgehog bot has no wheels, instead it will use it spikes for getting around along with internal flywheels for propulsion.
Issa Nesnas, a robotics engineer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Marco Pavone, Associate Professor of Astronautics at Stanford University, told Reuters the hedgehog's mission will be to answer some of the mysteries about Phobos such as how it came to orbit its planet closer than any other in the solar system.
"Exploring the Martian moon of Phobos gives us more information about the origins of that moon which helps us understand more about the solar system." Nesnas said.
The hedgehog will be part of a series of spacecrafts that will descend on Phobos with the guidance of a mother ship what will be equipped with sensors scanning the moon's surface. The mother ship will also maintain communications and share its findings with researchers on Earth, Pavone said.
Understanding the environment on Phobos also may be of help to missions planned for Mars, researchers say, as the moon's low level of gravitational pull is safer for landings. In contrast, Mars gravity is similar to Earth's and poses risks. Once on the surface, Phobos' close proximity to Mars will make it easier to control robots on the Martian surface in real time.
Researchers say they are several years away from completing the hedgehog and its assisting fleet.