Presenter: James Kingsnorth

Description:
Certification and paperwork are the primary barriers to space access. We solve this through our Pod, a pre-certified and fault-isolating payload container, embedded in our proprietary return capsule Oasis. In this session, we will highlight the diverse experimentation it enables and the future missions we are designing for. Our first Pods are launching in just two months, paving the way for radically easier access to space.

 

Current surface operations on Mars are very expensive and spatially limited. To solve this, Tumbleweed Mars is developing a swarm of spheroidal, wind-driven rovers, akin to a tumbleweed, to prospect large swaths of the Martian surface. This low-cost alternative to UAVs and much faster alternative to traditional wheeled rovers enables the mapping of entire regions of the Red Planet in just tens of days. Consequently, more accurate reserve estimates of sulfates, oxides, clays, and subsurface water ice will be achieved. The functional rover shown in this demonstration has recently returned from rigorous testing in the Atacama Desert