Planetary rovers

Space hopping

How to bounce across a planet’s surface

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Readers' comments



A picture of the actual robot would have more helpful than the picture of children bouncing on balls.



"... Dr Tuohy believes hoppers will compliment wheeled rovers, because they will be able to cover much more ground." The word you wanted was "complement".


I am sure I am just being stupid, but surely fans require airflow to work and I am convinced there is no atmosphere on the moon. Without airflow, how do the fans generate downward force or are they only for use on earth to simulate the low-gravity environment?


Thanks Miocene. I am a big fan of robotic exploration, given that it is much cheaper and more useful than sending (wo)men to space. This projcet sounds like it could produce some very useful vehicles. Good luck to the team and winning $20m.


What problem are they actually trying to solve? While the $20M for the lunar x-prize is nice, I can't offhand think of any high-value targets that the current Mars rovers have failed to reach. I would think that the focus for further research should be increased speed WITHOUT sacrificing longevity. Anything with such a limited fuel supply shouldn't fly without a precise target and scientific objectives. Otherwise it may end up flopping around on some completely boring Martian desert for a few weeks until it runs out of fuel.


One would presume that if the extraterrestrial body being roved over has an atmosphere, no matter how tenuous, then a solar powered transporter could recharge the compressed gas tank(s).

John Q. Reader

@skrap- I don't know how they determine what makes an interesting target worth sending a rover to study, but I got excited about the possible commercial applications of the low-gravity simulator propulsion system. Depending on scalability and power requirements, might we have viable consumer anti-grav technology in our lifetime? Marty McFly, your hoverboard is ready!

AB ve

I wish it has a side effect of making a vehicle that sends people easily up the ski slopes or travelling in mountaeneous regions.



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