MINERVA

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#MINERVA ##Micro/Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid Before the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission's failed attempt to land Philae on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko captured our hearts and minds on November 12, 2014, another "lander" had been lost on a similar mission to an asteroid. This earlier mission was a joint Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) MUSES-C technology verification mission ("HAYABUSA") which was launched on May 9, 2003. The goal of Hayabusa was to evaluate the ability to "collect samples from a small celestial body and to bring them back to Earth." And this portion of the mission was successful, with the reentry of Hayabusa into the Australian desert on June 13, 2010. The asteroid that Hayabusa landed on was Itokawa (25143)--a small 535m x 294m x 209m hunk of stony S-type space rock. Prior to its initial touchdown on the asteroid, Hayabusa was scheduled to deploy a small rover/lander that was programmed to explore the surface of Itokawa. Known as MINERVA (Micro/Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid), this rover was incredibly small (120 mm x 100 mm; about the size of a shoebox) and weighed only about 1.2 kilograms. MINERVA was designed to hop around on the asteroid's surface, using its four legs to jump and bounce along. The rover was equipped with a camera, a laser ranging system, and a sampling mechanism that could collect small samples of dust or rock from the asteroid's surface. MINERVA was also equipped with a radio transmitter that allowed it to communicate with Earth. Unfortunately, MINERVA's mission did not go as planned. The rover deployed on Itokawa on September 21, 2005, but it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. MINERVA failed to transmit any data back to Earth, and attempts to contact the rover were unsuccessful. It is believed that MINERVA may have been damaged during its deployment or that it simply stopped working due to a technical failure. The loss of MINERVA was a setback for the Hayabusa mission, but it also provided valuable lessons for future asteroid missions. The experience gained from MINERVA's failure helped inform the design and development of later rover missions, such as NASA's Curiosity Rover. ##Assembly Overview 1. Glue the Lip to the inside of the Top. Use the Upper Body as a guide for aligning the Lip. 2. Assemble the internal support structure using the photographs and drawing as a guide. Attach the Beams and Clips with either metal fasteners or plastic cement. 3. Carefully insert the internal support structure inside the Base and mark the center point of the Base floor. Remove the support structure and glue the Axle to this center point. 4. Glue the connector sides of the two PC parts together. 5. Carefully cut three (x3) Spindles to 60mm in length. 6. Insert these Spindles into the first three openings of the two cross support Beams. You can optionally glue these Spindles into place. 7. Glue the two Condensers together lengthwise with the electrodes topsy-turvy (end-to-end) from each other. 8. Attach the joined Condensers, Torquer, Flywheels, long Spindle, and Camera to the support structure and lower this assembly into the Base. Slip the Comm (Communications) component down alongside the structure end that is furthest away from the Aperture opening in the Upper Body. 9. Lay the Turntable on the Axle and insert the Motor beside the Turntable and inside the two lower support Beams. 10. Slide the Upper Body onto the Base and insert Aperture through the Upper Body (the Aperture should "plug" into the Camera body). Lay the joined PCs upside down on the internal support structure. Place the Top on your completed MINERVA model. #References You can download a FREE 3D-printable model of the asteroid Itokawa from NASA at: https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/detail/itokawa - Yoshimitsu, T., Kubota, T., Nakatani, I., Adachi, T., Saito, H., "Hopping Rover "MINERVA" for Asteroid Exploration," *Pro. Fifth International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation in Space*, June 1999, ESA SP-440; pgs. 83-88. - Yoshimitsu, T., Sasaki, S., Yanagisawa, M., Kubota, T., "Scientific Capability of MINERVA Rover in Hayabusa Asteroid Mission," *Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV*, 2004; 1517.pdf. - Yoshimitsu, T., Kubota, T., Nakatani, I., "MINERVA Rover Which Became a Small Artificial Solar Satellite," *20th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites*, SSC06-IV-4 - *Hayabusa: A Technology Demonstrator for Sample and Return*, Pamphlet; http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/